For first time readers: detailed info about shows mentioned in the update are mostly contained in the week’s scheduled picks (near the end of the update). The main body will usually be hotlink-free (save for “special interest” tangents).

Long dormant local glitch-pop band The Russian Futurists (whose last release was a compilation in 2006) are back to help give the Wavelength music series a proper send-off on its 10th and final birthday.

In Theatre & Dance,

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There’s TWO productions of Stephen Sondheim’s black comedic history musical, “Assassins“, that have just opened in Toronto, and while the Hart House one will almost certainly be of better quality than most community or college productions, it’s Birdland Theatre and Talk is Free Productions‘ version, down at the Theatre Centre, that I’m most looking forward to, by far. It’s got a bona fide Broadway star at the helm (director and local boy made good Adam Brazier), and boasts both renowned belters ( like Eliza Jane Scott, Steve Ross, & Trish Lindstrom) and actors who heretofore have not appeared in a musical professionally (like Kate Hewlett and Chris Stanton), musical though they might be. And that would definitely have to be the case, since the entire cast plays accompanying instruments for the show.

Not yet opened, but running already in previews, are the remount of Convergence Theatre’s “YICHUD (Seclusion)“, who managed to overcome the Harold Green funding debacle with the assistance of generous donations from the theatre community; Obsidian Theatre and Canstage’s production of “Intimate Apparel“, a story of a Harlem seamstress (scheduled to coincide with Black History Month); and the world premiere of Rosa Laborde’s eagerly awaited sophomore play, “Hush“, a psychological mystery, wherin a father seeks to discover the cause of his daughter’s night terrors (Laborde was mentioned in my Best Summerworks shows of ‘09 post as the director of the #1 show).

Two other new plays by renowned Canadian playwrights Michael Healy (”Couragous” @ The Tarragon Theatre) and  Judith Thompson (”Such Creatures” at Theatre Passe Muraille) close Sunday, while George F. Walker’s newest, “And So It Goes” , continues at Factory Theatre.

Other continuing shows include “Peer Gynt” (Susan Coyne works with indie company The Thistle Project, whose production of “Miss Julie“  in 2008 trounced CanStage’s in almost every way), “Billy Bishop Goes to War” (Eric Petersen & John Gray bring back their phenomenally popular WWII flying ace play to Soulpepper), “Cloud 9” (a stellar Canuck cast, including Megan Follows, Evan Builing, and Yanna McIntosh, subvert gender norms in two different time periods), and “Light in the Piazza” (a critically acclaimed Broadway hit that ’s spoken and sung partly in Italian).

Dance show running this week include “Under a Paper Moon“,  a multidisciplinary showcase at Hub 14;  Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage Series brings Australian movement thriller “Roadkill” to town for a typically too short run; and Toronto Dance Theatre is presenting a FREE showcase on Monday of work from their upcoming new show, “Pteros Tactics“.

Finally, the 30th annual Rhubarb Festival begins Wednesday at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre; the festival usually runs the gamut from weird to wonderful, and this year promises more of the same, with a wrestling spectacle from Birdland and Swanville (featuring pint sized spandex clad combatants like Cara Gee and Rebecca Applebaum), a “Teddy Chainsaw Massacre“, and a Italian duet, “Parole, Parole“, about “semantic satiation”, which could hopefully end up sounding somewhat like this not quite Italian or English musical extravaganza...

Birdland Theatre's production of "Assassins" has an eclectic mix of seasoned musical performers, and local actors who are dipping their toes in musical theatre for the first time, professionally. It's one of the shows I've been most looking forward to seeing in 2010. (Photo by Guntar Kravis).

Film, Comedy, Music, more vids and pics, and the weekly calendar picks, are just one “More” click away…

Actress and improviser Tatiana Maslany won the “Breakout Performance” award last weekend at the Sundance Film Festival (the only Canadian to win an award at the prestigious fest), for her role in “Grown Up Movie Star” as a sexually precocious teen in a small town who dreams of Hollywood stardom. The above improvised video, which gives you some idea of Tat’s comedic gifts, is from filmmaker Mike Fly’s Improv Monologue Project series.

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In Film,

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I’m generally far more enthusiastic about the repertory cinemas, but this week, it’s downtown megaplex Scotiabank Theatre Cinemas that’s piqued my interest. Reason 1: They’ve just launched the inaugural Great Digital Film Festival, screening a wide variety of classic films like “The Godfather“, “Ghostbusters“, and “The Wizard of Oz” on DLP screens in HiDef, for $5 a show (or $9 for a double feature). Reason 2: They’re screening recent Canadian films like “Grown Up Movie Star” (see above) and “Frozen“, the hit indie horror flick about 3 skiers trapped on a chairlift. Reason 3: they’ve quietly brought back half price Tuesdays, so you can see the aforementioned indie films for $6.26…

They reps, meanwhile, are, for the most part, currently screening movies recently nominated for Oscars. PLEASE tell me you’ve already seen “The Hurt Locker” (I’ll be crushed if director Kathryn Bigelow loses to her ex-husband James Cameron for Best Director). The Royal Cinema, bucking the trend, is screening a locally shot documentary about teens growing up in St. Jamestown, “Invisible City“, that exposes the troubling problems in the subsidized housing projects in the neighborhood.

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BASSprov (Joe Bill and Mark Sutton) rope you in with their aw-shucks charm, then blow you away with their finely crafted improvised "fishing conversations".

In Comedy,

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Impatient Theatre and Comedy Bar are hosting star improv duo BASSprov this weekend; Indiana’s favourite good ol’ boys are performing Friday and Saturday in the late night slot at Comedy Bar, as well as teaching classes over the weekend to Impatient Theatre students (who get into the shows half price).

Sunday night, Laugh Sabbath show “Let’s Get Hot!” features usual guests like Charlotte the Harlot (Kathleen Phillips) and Bad News Brian (Brian Barlow), but also on the bill are Kid in the Hall Scott Thompson, Dini Dimakos (comedy blogger, Muchmusic’s “Love Court“), and oddball Jon McCurley (whose Life of a Craphead act recently opened for Owen Pallett).

Over at Bad Dog Theatre, they’ve brought the original Theatresports format back on the weekends, expanding to two nights (Friday and Saturday). They’ve also begun a new tournament series, “Dual Duel“, hot on the heels of their recently wrapped month long Globehead competition (won by Illusionoid Prime - Paul Bates, Nug Nahrgang, and Lee Smart).

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In Music,

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There’s in-store performances this Friday by Hawksley Workman and Great Lake Swimmers, whose Saturday show at Trinty St. Paul’s is sold out. Also sold out this week is The Magnetic Fields on Monday at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, with opener Laura Barrett, who also plays next Friday as part of…

Wavelength 499 & 500 - the BIG news of the week in music. Yes, the celebrated music series and ‘zine is finally drawing to a close with a massive blowout festival at a different venue each night, starting on Wednesday, and running until next Sunday. First, there’s the last regular Wavelength, #499, this Sunday, with a line-up of up and comers picked by longtime host Doc Pickles; then, starting on Wednesday, some of Wavelength’s most noted alumni, many of whom have disbanded (or haven’t played town in ages), are coming back one last time, such as Rocket’s Red Glare, Barcelona Pavilion, Holy Fuck, The Bicycles, and The Russian Futurists.

There ARE other shows going on this week, too. There’s the second night of Gentleman Reg’s Heavy Head residency at the Drake Hotel Underground (Woodpigeon and Betty Burke play on Thursday, as well); The Meligrove Band are opening Bookie’s Nu Music Nite on Tuesday at the Horseshoe Tavern (which is FREE as always); and Magenta Lane are releasing their newest CD next Friday (also at the ‘Shoe). But it’s the Wavelength shows that’ll be hot tickets, as all the indie kids (and adults, at this point) try to recapture the feeling that the seminal series has stirred, at one point or another, over the last decade, and with 1,100 bands to have played… well, that’s a LOT of fans.

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Jonas Bonnetta, AKA Evening Hymns (and #7 on my Best Albums of ‘09 list), is one of the opening acts of the Wavelength 500 Festival, a 4 night celebration of the last ten years of the influential music series, as it draws to a close (this clip by Colin Medley was filmed at Wavelength #452).

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Steve’s Weekly Picks for Feb. 5th - Feb. 12th, 2010:

Blonde rock star #1: David Bowie is "Jareth the Goblin King" in the fantasy classic "Labyrinth", screening Sunday at the Scotiabank Theatre Cinemas, as part of the inaugural Great Digital Film Festival.

FRIDAY Feb. 5th: Hawksley Workman in-store performance, @ Criminal Records, 6pm, FREE     /     Great Lake Swimmers In-store performance, @ Sonic Boom, 6:30pm, FREE /     “Catch 23 Improv“, w/ Rob Norman, Alana Johnston, Ely Henry, host Brendan Hallorhan, more, @ Comedy Bar, 8pm, $5     /    The Great Digital Film Festival: “2001: A Space Odyessey“, @ Scotiabank  Theatre Cinemas, 9:10pm, $5 ($9 double bill)     /     “BASSPROV“, w/ Mark Sutton & Joe Bill, @ Comedy Bar, 10:30pm, $10     /     The Great Digital Film Festival: “The Thing“, @ 11:59pm, $5 ($9 double bill)

SATURDAY Feb. 6th Aft.: “Assassins“, w/ Graham Abbey, Trish Lindstrom, Chris Stanton, more, @ The Theatre Centre, 2pm, $33 (2 for 1 matinee)     /      Script Superheroes: “The Chronicles of Sophia Brenee“, w/ Jim Taylor, Katie Lawson, Gary Rideout Jr., more, @ Comedy Bar, 3:30pm, FREE

SATURDAY Feb. 6th Eve: “Couragous“, w/ Melissa MacPherson, Brandon McGibbon, Erin MacKinnon, more, @ Tarragon Theatre, 8pm, $20-$38     / “BASSPROV“, w/ Mark Sutton & Joe Bill, @ Comedy Bar, 10:30pm, $10 ($% for ITC students)

SUNDAY Feb. 7th Aft.: “Such Creatures” closing show, w/ Michaela Washburn & Maria Vacratsis, @ Theatre Passe Muraille (Backspace), 2:30pm, PWYC /     The Great Digital Film Festival: “Labyrinth“, @ Scotiabank Theatre Cinemas, 4pm, $5

SUNDAY Feb. 7th Eve: “Peer Gynt“, w/ Susan Coyne, Matthew Romantini, @ Church of the Holy Trinity, 8pm, PWYC     /     “Laugh Sabbath Presents… Let’s Get Hot!“, w/ Scott Thompson, Dini Dimakos, Jon McCurley, hosts Chris Locke & Aaron Eves, more, @ The Rivoli, 9pm, $5     /     Wavelength 499, w/ Half Baked (12:30am), The Tres Bien Ensemble (11:30pm), Princess Century (10:30pm), host Doc Pickles, more, @ The Garrison, 9:30pm, PWYC

Blonde Rock Star #2: Gentleman Reg holds court at the Drake Hotel Underground every Wednesday this month, with a slew of terrific musical guests, such as this week's - By Divine Right & The Balconies.

MONDAY Feb. 8th: “The Process Revealed: a preview of “Pteros Tactics“, w/ Alana Elmer, David Houle, Sarah Wasik, more, introduced by Christopher House, @ The Winchester Street theatre, 7pm, FREE     /     “Intimate Apparel” preview show, w/ Raven Dauda, Kevin Hanchard, Alex Poch-Goldin, @ Canstage Berkeley Theatre, 8pm, PWYC     /     “Sketch Wars“, w/ Plum Thunder, The Chesterfields, Haircut, host Norm Souza, more, @ Comedy Bar, 8pm, $5

TUESDAY Feb. 9th: “Frozen“, @ Scotiabank Cinemas, 7:50pm, $6.26     /     “Under a Paper Moon” opening night, w/ Andrea Spaziani, Linnea Swan, Rebecca Hope Terry, more, @ Hub 14, 8pm, $16-$20     /     “Bookie’s Nu Music Night”, w/ The Meligrove Band (9pm),  Hacienda, Those Darlings, more, @ The Horseshoe Tavern, 8pm, FREE     /     “Grown Up Movie Star“, @ Scotiabank Cinemas, 9:40pm, $6.26

WEDNESDAY Feb. 10th: Wavelength 500 Night 1: Bruce Peninsula, Evening Hymns, Pony da Look, more, @ The Music Gallery, 7pm, $12 /     “Invisible City“, @ The Royal Cinema, 7pm, $8-$10     /     “Dual Duel“, w/ Simon Pond, Laura Salvas, Wayne Molinski, more, @ Bad Dog Theatre, 8pm, $10     /     Gentleman Reg’s Heavy Head Residency, w/ By Divine Right, The Balconies, @ The Drake Hotel Underground, 9:30pm, $10 (includes digital EP)

THURSDAY Feb. 11th: The Great Digital Film Festival: “Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan“, @ The Scotiabank Theatre Cinemas, 7pm, $5     /       Rhubarb Festival, Week 1: “Parole, Parole“, w/ Lindy Zucker, Paul Kit, Carmen Grant, more, @ Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (Chamber), 8pm, $17 (evening pass)     /     Wavelength 500, Night 2: Holy Fuck, The Russian Futurists, Fembots, more, @ The Steamwhistle Brewery, 8pm, $18      /     Rhubarb Festival, Week 1: “Dead Wrestlers“, w/ Cara Gee, Nicole Stamp, Rebecca Applebaum, more, @ Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (Chamber), 8:30pm, $17 (evening pass)     / Rhubarb Festival, Week 1: “Teddy Chainsaw Massacre“, w/ Sherri Hay and Ulysses Castellanos, @ Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (Chamber), 9pm, $17 (evening pass)     / Woodpigeon, w/ Betty Burke, @ The Drake Hotel Underground, 9:30pm, $12

FRIDAY Feb. 12th: “Hush” preview show, w/ Vivien Endicott-Douglas, Graeme Somerville, Tara Rosling, more, @ Tarragon Theatre, 8pm, $20 (limited $10 rush tix available @ 6pm)     /     “Catch 23 Improv“, w/ Sarah Hillier, Andy Hull, Kayla Lorette, host Becky Johnson, more, @ Comedy Bar, 8pm, $5     /     Wavelength 500 Night 3: From Fiction, The Bicycles, Laura Barrett, more, @ Sneaky Dee’s, 9pm, $12     /      Magneta Lane CD release (12:30am), w/ Make Your Exit (11:30pm), Elias & The Barettas (10:30pm), @ The Horseshoe Tavern, 9:30pm, $8

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(Here’s The Balconies performing “Battle Royale” for Mitch Fillion of Southern Souls; Jacquie, Stephen, and Liam, who made #5 on my Best Albums of ‘09 list, will be opening for Gentleman Reg at his Heavy Head residency at the Drake this Wednesday.)

Fine Print:

- All prices listed are advance ticket prices (where applicable). With many of these shows, especially music and theatre, if you show up at the door, you run the risk of being turned away due to a sell out.

- All times are start times, NOT door times. If you show up after the posted time, the show will likely already be underway.

- I typically cap the listed performers at three mentioned per show. The bill of bands / acts / performers is often much larger (particularly for comedy and theatre).

- Theatre and Comedy events are ALL AGES, unless otherwise noted. Music events are 19+, unless otherwise noted (FREE in-store and outdoor performances are ALL AGES, due to the lack of alcohol service).

Naive little me thought I’d manage a post a day (hah!) when I started these retrospective posts, but they’re working out to 5 or more days apiece, so it’s entirely possible I won’t finish until the end of January! But for those curious, next up will be the Fringe Festival, then the Best Comedy Shows of 2009, then a Best Singles of 2009 post (plus an update by next Friday). - Steve

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Best Summerworks Moments of 2009

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One of the remarkable things about how the Summerworks Festival has evolved under Artistic Director Michael Rubenfeld is how it’s grown to include performance events that aren’t strictly stage plays; for this past year’s festival, I saw 27 plays, 18 bands, 9 Performance Gallery pieces, and 3 Summerwalks tours. So I’ve tried to pull from all those experiences in listing my top Summerworks picks, by citing particular events and moments that stood out and crystallized why that show was worthy of mention.

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#9: Maev Beaty’s painter seduces Erin Shields’s shopgirl in “Montparnasse“

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Erin Shields and Maev Beaty played with audiences' conceptions of the nude model as their characters gradually succumbed to greed, lust, and jealousy in the riveting "Montparnasse". Photo by Amanda Lynne Ballard.

When both of the writer/performers of this fascinating look at nude models in 1920’s Paris first shed their clothes on stage, they did so in a way that lulled the audience into accepting the nudity as natural and non-sexual, and therefore non-threatening. The posing and attitudes all suggested that the character’s disrobing was being done for art and beauty’s sake, and that anyone sexualizing it (or thinking of it as shameful) would be ruining the compact by subverting something liberating and beautiful.

But midway through the play, Beaty’s lesbian painter Amelia seduced Shields (playing a secondary character, an assistant who can help further Amelia’s career), succumbing to both her own lust, and the desire to insinuate herself into the inner circles of Paris’ cultural elite. All of a sudden, all bets were off. As Amelia slowly stripped clothes off the tough-talking shopgirl, her brusque demeanour dissolved, and was replaced with a vulnerability hitherto unseen when skin was exposed; a vulnerability that was taken advantage of. The apple had been tasted of, and for the rest of the play, the nudity was no longer quite so innocent.

Many critics marveled at the bravery of Shields and Beaty for spending so much time nude in “Montparnasse“, but it was this re-contextualizing of that nudity that was the audacious choice in their show.

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#8: Oh No Forest Fires‘ cover of “Footloose“

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There were all sorts of incredible performances over the course of the Summerworks Music Series. Two of the bands on my Best Albums of 2009 list, Think About Life (#1) and Great Bloomers (#10) were among the bands who played extraordinary sets (and since they’ve already been mentioned, were “disqualified” from this list), and nearly every night, as least one of the bands got people up and dancing.

Among the best to do so, however, were ONFF and their set ending cover of Kenny Loggin’s classic “Footloose“. Faced with a smaller mid-week crowd than most of the festival’s nights, ONFF gradually got the crowd warmed up and dancing, and when they busted out “Footloose“, there wasn’t a still foot in the house.

Sadly, ONFF recently announced their last show on Jan. 23rd (which you should definitely consider attending); in the meantime, while there is a video of ONFF performing “Footloose“, the sound quality is pretty terrible, so here’s a clip of them performing their own song, “It’s Not Fun and Games Unless Someone Loses an Eye“.

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(The rest of the Summerworks list, including some choice videos, follows below.)

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#7: Meeting Byron Abalos‘ “Lola Lita“

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Byron Abalos and his Lola Lita were the highlight of the inaugural Summerwalks program.

I really enjoyed Dana Puddicombe’s Summerwalks tour through Queen St. West’s alleyways and along the main street, and her attention to historical details about her adopted neighborhood, but Abalos’ personal connection to the area that we toured (um, South Queen West?) added something special to “Lola Lita“. As the tour progressed, he spoke about how his family had immigrated to Toronto in the 70’s, and how his grandmother had lived within an eight block radius for over 30 years. The story of the neighborhood became the story of his family, specifically his grandmother, and how she raised and supported her family, even to recent times, as Abalos became “roomies” with her while attending Ryerson Theatre School.

At the conclusion of the tour, we met the woman we’d spent the last hour hearing about, with no detail spared, and she was both modest and gracious in welcoming all these strangers to her front stoop.

Abalos is currently starring in “The Making of St. Jerome” at the Next Stage Festival, which is selling out and garnering rave reviews; while I have no doubt he is putting his considerable skills as a performer to good use, for his Summerwalk, he demonstrated that he was willing to invite total strangers into his personal life and that of his grandmother in hopes of instilling in them the love his family obviously has for their neighborhood, and each other.

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#6: The “running” sequence in “Nohayquiensepa“

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L to R: Ravi Jain, Gina Jaimes, Carlos Gonzalez-Vio, and Beatriz Pizano in "Nohayquiensepa". Photo by Trevor Schwellnus.

I had a pretty good idea of what to expect from many of the shows at Summerworks, but Aluna Theatre’s “No One Knows“, a “visual poem told through theatre and dance in tribute to the lost” (I THINK I have the translation more or less right from their poster), knocked me on my ass when I saw it. I’d heard next to nothing about the show, and it was a visual tour de force. The show utilized recorded audio, visual projection, video, and nearly every other audio/visual trick in the theatrical book, to tell a non-narrative story of how violence creates collateral damage that effects us even when it’s committed against strangers. Despite all the impressive technical effects, the performers were still integral to the production; there was very little spoken on stage, but there was plenty of collaborative dance and movement work.

The most entrancing staging involved a running sequence, with real-time cameras trained on the running on the spot actors; the images were then manipulated to project multiple images behind and beside them that swelled to immensity and swallowed them whole. Brilliant, mesmerizing stuff.

Aluna Theatre’s newest work, Beatriz Pizano’s “La Comunion“, opened January 12th at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and runs to the end of the month; the 10 person collective includes Carlos Gonzalez-Vio (who also deserves a special Summerworks mention for his ardent portrayal of the beast man Eniku in Groundwater Production’s “Epic of Gilgamesh“), Rosa Laborde (who’ll be mentioned further down this list), and Sam Malkin (whose work in ‘09 is mentioned in the upcoming “Best Theatre” post).

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#5: Hannah Cheesman’s bathroom monologue at the Performance Gallery

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Hannah Cheesman in "German Lollipop". Photo by Ayngelina Brogan.

The Summerworks Performance Gallery at the Gladstone Hotel was once again both a welcome respite from the hurly burly of the main festival venues, and a chance to see all sorts of intriguing work, much of it interactive. Chris Stanton, who also delivered a bravura monologue in The Room’s “Red Machine: Part 2“, delighted at the Gallery as an immobile old man telling outlandish “stories on tape”, and Clinton Walker demonstrated the various comfort zones most people have when it comes to personal space in “The Distance Between Us“.

But the best of the Gallery performances had an established fourth wall, though the venue was certainly unorthodox; up to a dozen strangers at a time crammed into the second floor washroom to watch Hannah Cheesman perform a monologue in a bathtub and sitting on a toilet (lid down) in “German Lollipop“. She was mesmerizing as a soldier’s wife slowly driven mad by her husband, who insists, since his return from the front, that she smells like rotting flesh.

Unfortunately, Cheesman’s run of “German Lollipop” had to end early in the festival, as she was taking the show on the road -  to Columbia. Cheesman is just wrapping up a short run of “Guns n’ Roses” at the Toronto Centre of the Arts (her co-star Ben Sanders also impressed in Deus XM’s “Fear and Misery of The Third Reich” at Summerworks); she also stars in a remount of playwright Hannah Moscovitch’s “In This World” in May at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People.

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#4: Forest D’Urberville Lovers

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As I stated earlier, there were all sorts of great sets during the Summerworks Music Series, but this one was truly special. Forest City Lovers opened up the night, with Kat Burns and co. delivering a short but typically (for them) lovely set of string-heavy pop; The D’Urbervilles followed immediately with a minimum of tear-down, delivering their particular brand of punky goodness, but again, a very short set. Then, a whole lot of moving and set-up began, leaving the crowd perplexed; the sets had been awfully short, and weren’t they the only two bands on the bill? But it soon became apparent there was to be a second set featuring the two bands mashed up, and thankfully, it was recorded; watch for yourself.

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Neither band has been idle since last summer: D’Urbervilles frontman John O’Regan has a surprise video hit on his hands for his solo outing as Diamond Rings, and FCL have just recently released a lovely new video that will cheer you on a cold winter’s day.

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#3: “The Middle Place“’s rotating spotlight

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L to R: Antonio Cayonne, Akosua Amo-Adem, Kevin Walker, and Jessica Greenberg never met the interviewees they portrayed, saw the footage, or learned their real names, but they all did magnificent work in bringing their subject's stories to life.

The “recorded interviews turned into dramatic monologues” conceit has become a popular one in Toronto theatre over the past few years.  It’s a very sensible method of constructing a show for a fledgling theatre company that’s willing to put the legwork in to find interesting subjects and interview them; the actors get to show some range portraying multiple characters, the show may appeal to people based on the subject matter more than the resumes of the creators, and the company can do some real good by shining a light on the disenfranchised - if the material is handled sensitively.

Well, Project: Humanity’s “The Middle Place” delivered in spades on all that potential. The company, founded by Ryerson Theatre School alumni, has been actively involved in community outreach and social cause fundraising for over a decade now, and had produced shows for at risk youth in shelters and prisons (full disclosure: I’ve acted in some of these), and it was this work that inspired them to produce their first public production. They enlisted an experienced director (Alan Dilworth), an up-and-coming writer (Andrew Kushnir, who also serves as the company’s Creative Director), and assembled a gifted cast to bring the project to fruition. Experienced actor Paul Dunn (currently on-stage once again in the 3rd remount of “East of Berlin” at Tarragon Theatre), playing “the outsider” who interviews the young adults in the homeless shelter from offstage, helped ground the work, but it was the four young actors on stage who really pulled the difficult material off. In turns funny, heartbreaking, and unsettling, they gave us a sobering look at how the residents of the shelter were smart, engaging kids who had suffered great misfortune, and been forced to grow up too fast (or had never quite managed to grow up fully) due to their situations.

Since the show closed, Project: Humanity has begun preparations to tour the show to schools around the GTA, and hopefully this year, across Ontario.

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#2: “Impromptu Splendour“’s Naomi Snieckus offers Colin Mochrie a candy

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From Top to Bottom: Ron Pederson, Matt Baram, and Naomi Snieckus mess with all your favourite playwrights to devastatingly funny effect in "Impromptu Splendor". Photo by Skye Regan.

I find it tremendously difficult to pick just one moment out of an Impromptu Splendor show to highlight.

Firstly, since each show is completely improvised, that particular show will never happen again. It makes it difficult (or at least, makes me feel guilty) to single out a moment the majority of the audience of their run can think of as a touchstone; after all, only the audience that saw that specific show was privy to it.

Secondly, it’s hard for me personally. I was the first person to write about Impromptu Splendor on the internet, and I’ve seen so many of their shows now that I worry; have I come to expect the remarkable scenes they produce with astounding regularity as simply being par for the course? I’m never bored or jaded with the stellar work that Naomi Snickus, Ron Pederson, Matt Baram, and their many wonderful guests continue to produce; it does mean, I suppose, that I have to constantly remind myself of the utter alchemy the troupe produces every time they step onto the stage and write a new play “in the style of” a playwright, in the moment.

I guess if I had to pick just one favourite moment out of the several shows I saw of their Summerworks run, it’d be when Naomi Snieckus offered a candy to guest star Colin Mochrie (pinch hitting for an absent Matt Baram) in their homage to Harold Pinter. As he popped it in his mouth, Snieckus informed him they were terrible, and he spit it right out onto the table. A simple sight gag, but emblematic of the incredible comic timing and choices required to lead up to the payoff.

At the conclusion of their Summerworks run, Impromptu Splendor won the RBC Arts Professional Award for their clever marketing campaign, including a nightly “opening & closing” party for their shows at the nearby Taro Grill, terrific photographic documentation of their work by Skye Regan, and a series of YouTube videos edited by Baram (his latest, advertising Monday night’s return to Theatre Passe Muraille, is below). Since then, they’ve also won the 2009 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Improv Troupe. I think it’s fair to say that I can no longer gripe that their work isn’t fully appreciated by either the theatre or comedy communities.

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#1: Melissa-Jane Shaw replaces Ingrid Rae Doucet mid-way through “Melancholy Play“

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The cast of "Melancholy Play". Top, L to R: Anna Hardwick, Pamela Rhae Ferguson, Cheryl Ockrant, & Ennis Esmer. Bottom, L to R: Salvatore Antonio, Melissa Jane Shaw, & Ingrid Rae Doucet. Photo by Michelle Bailey.

I’m going to quote myself here, in speaking in general about Project Undertow’s “Melancholy Play“:

“…my favourite show to date at the festival, “Melancholy Play“, is anything but. Ingrid Rae Doucet stars as a blonde depressive who finds that her maudlin demeanor causes people of both sexes and all walks of life to fall head over heels for her - until she overcomes her depression and realizes her new-found cheerfulness has the opposite effect. This absurd and delightful farce boasts a surfeit of comedic talent, and director Rosa Laborde, herself a Dora and Governor General Award nominated playwright, makes an assured directorial debut. While the script itself is by American playwright Sarah Ruhl, it’s an outstanding example of a independent Canadian company (Project Undertow) demonstrating great prowess in all aspects of theatrical production; the performances, live music, sets, and costumes are all note perfect.”

What I can now add, since the production has come and gone, and it’s no longer a spoiler: the most brilliant bit of staging and casting for the show was having Melissa Jane Shaw step in as Tilly after her transformation from depressive to sunny optimist. Where Doucet had excelled at milking Tilly’s bewitching woefulness for comedic effect, so did Shaw hit the high notes of unbridled sunniness and cheerleader enthusiasm. By changing the actors, director Laborde made it crystal clear that none of the people in Tilly’s life can see her as the same person after her personality change. It was a perfect, crowning touch to a show that was already hitting all the right notes.

Shaw’s just wrapping up a turn as the titular character in Seventh Stage Production’s “The Red Queen Effect” at The Next Stage Festival (she’s also the Artistic Producer for Seventh Stage), and that show looks to be a lock as my favourite of that festival, as well…

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Part 1 is over and done with - upcoming is my faves of the Fringe…

Before we get to new business, however, I have a series of end of year recap posts planned for music, theatre, and comedy. As befitting the year that just ended, they’re kept to 9 (though some, like this post, will also have the same number of “honourable mentions”). First up on deck:

Best Albums (LPs) of 2009

#9. Josh Reichmann Oracle Band - Crazy Power

Best track: “Fractal Web”

If Toronto had an equivalent to NYC’s The Strokes in the 2000s, both in sound and local buzz, it was Tangiers; the rock and post-punk band garnered considerable local acclaim for their 3 strong albums and energetic live shows from 2002-2005. When Tangiers dissolved in 2006, lead singer Reichmann experimented with a few different projects and sounds, releasing a debut solo album in ‘07 under the moniker Jewish Legend. The album showed a lot of promise, though it was a little too out there and dark to appeal to a wide segment of T.O.’s music fans. Crazy Power, however, while still venturing into all sorts of odd musical genres, is poppy and upbeat where previous effort Telepathy Now! was obtuse and challenging (continuing the Strokes comparison, their lead singer Julian Casablancas almost made this list for his own solo album this year, but we’re getting off topic). Anyway, Reichmann seems to have really hit his stride, and the album evokes all sorts of soul and funk comparisons, most notably to Prince. Songs like “Shivering Black” and “Sea at Night” are full of falsetto flourishes, calypso beats, and all manner of interesting instrumentation. Live, the Oracle Band is still a bit chaotic, but that’s A-OK by me - my favourite album of last year, Miracle Fortress’s Five Roses, took a while to bring to life on stage, too.

#8. Dan Mangan - Nice, Nice, Very Nice

Best Track: “Robots”

Mangan’s already received a lot of praise for his finely crafted debut album this year, including being awarded the XM Verge Award for Artist of the Year (an award that came as a shock to many who expected the award would go to a harder edged rock band), and Two CBC Radio 3 Bucky Awards, for Best Vocals and Best Song of the year. He ended the year on a high note, too, being named Best New Artist of the Year by iTunes Canada. Word spread quickly amongst the tight knit Canadian blogosphere and music community in 2009 about his exceptional stage craft skills and approachable persona; I’ve been at several live shows and in-stores, and Mangan always puts an effort in to turn new fans into friends after his set is over. While “N, N, VN” isn’t a re-invention of the wheel, it’s a album of exceptionally pleasant and straight-forward singer-songwriter tunes, and Mangan displays wit and charm throughout, including having had a hand in producing the terrific 80’s gang fight homage video for lead single “Robots”.

For the rest of the list, including a cornucopia of videos and MP3s, click “more”…

7. Evening Hymns - Spirit Guides

Best Track: “Broken Rifle”

Jonas Bonnetta, like Josh Reichmann, laid one musical identity aside for a new one this year; but in Bonnetta’s case, he dropped his own name in favour of Evening Hymns, a project that recruited over 17 musicians to enhance his own strumming and vocals (many of them label mates from the Out of This Spark collective), including members of Forest City Lovers, Ohbijou, The Wooden Sky, and The D’Urbervilles. His previous work was quiet and soulful, and while there’s still plenty of that sort of melancholy beauty on this new project, it’s the rocking numbers and complex orchestrations that elevate this album to best-of territory. Influential Canuck music blog Herohill posted a glowing review of Spirit Guides earlier this year (including another standout album track, “Dead Deer“), lamenting the fact that there were so few posts about Bonnetta’s music on-line; I think this album will correct that oversight soon enough. Below, you’ll find a full set from Jonas, courtesy of Late Night In the Bedroom; I would particularly recommend the epic set closer “Mountain Song” from 16:50-27:00, and the sparse version of “Dead Deer” from 6:00-11:00.

6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz!

Best Track: “Zero”

While Karen O, Nick Zinner, and Brian Chase weren’t exactly accused of suffering from the “sophomore slump” when 2007’s Show Your Bones dropped, the reaction was lukewarm in comparison to the frenzy their 2003 debut album Fever to Tell generated. So many critics can be forgiven for insinuating that It’s Blitz! is a “return to form” for the NYC art punk trio. Blitz is still very obviously a YYYs album; Nick still gets the guitar licks in, and Karen still employs a wide variety of coos and growls in her inimitable delivery. But the dance floor influence that’s crept in (very much evident in tunes like “Soft Shock” and “Dragon Queen”) is a strong step forward for YYYs and their sound, and it translates well on stage, too; when I saw them at Bluesfest in Ottawa, the crowd was too busy writhing and screaming along with Karen to all the new tunes to bother to shout out requests for “the old tunes”. Here they are in their Letterman appearance, where Karen reduces Paul Shaffer to a simpering fanboy by the end of their performance.

5. The Balconies - S/T

Best Track: “Serious Bedtime”

The last band to make the cut, and by just a couple of days, too; I finally got my hands on this little pop gem when it was gifted to me on Boxing Day (my birthday) by Ottawa DJ James at CHUO, and fell instantly in love. I’d heard people big-up-ing The Balconies for a while now, like T.O. blogger Historyjen, and they’d ranked in the top ten on I(Heart)Music’s Best Bands in Canada poll, but I’d only heard a couple of tracks (all of which were good). This whole album is chockful of potential rock-pop singles (”Lulu“, “Battle Royale“, “Elephant Lamp“), and picking just one song to represent the band was harder for this album than most on this list; I eventually settled on “Serious Bedtime” mostly because it features an almost equal “division of labour” in vocals between Jacquie Neville (Guitar), Stephen Neville (Bass), and Liam Jaeger (Drums). Expect to hear a lot more buzz about this band in 2010 and beyond; this is a remarkably self-assured debut album.

4. Real Estate - S/T

Best Track: “Beach Comber”

T.O. indie scene photog extraordinaire BramptonBoi (Garry Tsaconas) gets the credit for turning me onto these guys back in April, but it took a while before I was willing to share them with anyone else; the recordings available online were poor, and I wanted to wait until I could get my hands on something people wouldn’t dismiss as “amateur sounding”. Lo-fi beach bum jam outs by way of New Jersey, Real Estate as a band were slow growers in 2009; fuzzy sounding EPs and CD-Rs trickled out, than a 7 inch, until finally the band tied it all together, releasing a sublimely beautiful self-titled album that upped the recording quality, without losing any of the loose charm that had music bloggers enamoured of them. There’s echoes of Pavement in there (if you know me, you know that’s a proven way to worm into my musical heart), but also a fair bit of the Dead, too - check out this live video of “Suburban Beverage“, and especially how they kick it out in the last minute and a half. For a shorter video taste, below you’ll find “Fake Blues”, another single of worth.

3. Girls - Album

Best Track: “Lust For Life”

Pitchfork already did a pretty bang-up job of summarizing lead singer Christopher Owen’s remarkable life pre-Girls in their review of “Album”, so I ‘m not going to go into great detail about his childhood cult escape, or how he went from being a Texas “gutter punk” to a fixture of the San Fran alt scene here (though if you want to hear more from the remarkable candid Owens, you can read this interview). I’m also not going to try too hard to list out the many many influences that can be heard on Album, as the album jumps from sad sack but poppy Costello-like tune (”Laura”), to fuzzed out Beach Boys from hell (”Big Bad Mean Motherf**ker“), to epic and melancholy ballad (”Hellhole Ratrace“). Through it all, Owen’s voice and thematic throughline of love and loss hold it all together. If I had to pick a recent comparison, it’d be to Joel Gibbs of The Hidden Cameras (who released a terrific fifth album this year, BTW); Owens has that self same sweeping vision for his work, and judging from the official video of “Lust For Life” posted below (and even more so from the extremely NSFW version you can find HERE), he’s also, like Gibbs, managed to build up a large assortment of compatriots in San Fran’s alternative and gay scene to help him bring that vision to life.

2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Best Track: “1901”

You’d have had to try pretty hard to avoid hearing Phoenix in 2009, what with their songs being used for movie trailers for “Where the Wild Things Are” and “New York, I Love You“, in a Cadillac car commercial, and on every single late night show on television. There’s a very good reason for all this media exposure, though; while the Marseilles-based pop band has been at it for a decade now, and are considered contemporaries of Air and Daft Punk, they took their sweet time honing the perfect pop formula, and they seemed to have found that sweet spot with 2006’s  It’s Never Been Like That. With Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, they’ve ruthlessly and efficiently exploited the heck out of their formula. Even the slower tunes on WAP are catchy, and the album standouts - “Lisztomania“, “1901“, “Lasso” - all have you bopping your head along after a few seconds. I really don’t think you could find a more perfect pop album in 2009; after all, what else would make an internet meme subverting all the Brat Pack classic movie music moments so successful? Or, as demonstrated below, how many other bands could strip their song down to such bare essentials and gather a crowd so quickly (including a honeymooning couple on their way to see the Eiffel Tower) as the boys do in the Take Away Show performance below?

1. Think About Life - Family

Best Track: “Having My Baby”

For me, these guys had it sewn up midway through the year. The fact that my favourite artist of 2008, Graham Van Pelt (Miracle Fortress) was involved had me predisposed towards them before even hearing the tunes. But even before I got a chance to listen to Family, I saw them live, and … good Lord. You know how at most concerts (in Toronto, at least), 20% of the crowd is up front getting sweaty and wild, and the other 80% stands and watches, enjoying themselves, but passively observing? Well, TAL inverts that formula. People LOSE IT at TAL shows. “If the album is half as good as the live show”, I remember thinking, “this could be the album of the year”. Well, it is, and it is. As with Phoenix, even the slow songs on the album (”Like “The Veldt”) get you grooving, and the upbeat ones, like “Young Hearts”… well, see for yourself (gets going at the 25 second mark).  The beats that Graham (guitar, keyboards) and drummer Greg Napier come up with seem to plug directly into most people’s pleasure centres. Add in the incredible energy and enthusiasm of frontman Martin Cesar, and recent addition Caila Thompson-Hannant as a hypewoman, back-up vocalist, and bassist, and you have a potent mix to get the party started. But don’t take my word for it; watch the video below, a collage of video shot this summer at the Summerworks Music Series. Yes, they are that good, and yes, the album is that good, too…

9 Honourable Mentions

- Great Bloomers - Speak of Trouble

Best Track: “This Ain’t You”

- White Rabbits - It’s Frightening

Best Track: “They Done Wrong - We Done Wrong”

- St. Vincent - Actor

Best Track: “Actor Out of Work”

- Handsome Furs - Face Control

Best Track: “I’m Confused”

- Timber Timbre - S/T

Best Song: “Lay Down in the Tall Grass”

- Gentleman Reg - Jet Black

Best Track: “You Can’t Get It Back”

- Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

Best Track: “People Got a Lotta Nerve”

- Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Best Track: “Cannibal Resource”

- Fanfarlo - Reservoir

Best Track: “Luna”

Whew! That’s it for albums. I’ll be doing a Top 9 Singles post in the next week, as well, so if there’s an artist you felt should have been on this, they might just be “singled” out later. Up next: Best Fringe & Summerworks Shows of ‘09…

(Oh, and one last vid - here’s Julian Casablancas…)

All ages music series ALL CAPS and Wavelength collaborate on a fundraiser for Toronto Islands arts studio Gibraltar Arts Gallery, with heavy hitters on the Saturday all day on the island showcase like Brain Borchedt (Holy Fuck), Great Bloomers, and We Take Lovers. Later that night, back on the mainland, are second night shows by both Cuff the Duke and Shout Out Out Out Out, as well as a set by the Phonemes at the Tranzac Club.

Sunday evening, veteran Japanese gal rock n’ rollers Shonen Knife play the ‘Shoe; Monday, there’s a probably-impossible-to-get-into show by Sloan at the Dakota Tavern; and there’s new album releases by Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle on Thursday (also at the Dakota), and Everything All the Time on Friday at the Drake, in association with ace concert series No Shame.

(Kidstreet play the Robots //// Us dance party this Thursday at Wrongbar, with headliners OPOPO. For Film, Comedy, Theatre, and the week’s picks, you know what to do - click that “more” link…)

In Film,

Toronto’s niche festival season continues, with specialized fare from The Moving Image Film Festival, Imaginative Film and Media Festival, The Snowboard Canada Film Festival, the Macedonian Film Fest, Planet in Focus, Toronto Israel Film Festival, and the Est(onian)Docs Film Festival (really?), all taking place over the next weekend and beyond. The one that really sticks out and seems to promise inordinate amounts of sleazy fun, though, is Darryl’s Hard Liquor and Porn Festival on Saturday night at the Bloor Cinema. The program contains animation, shorts, and a topless food fight film (go ahead, use your imagination).

The Bloor Cinema is also playing host on Monday to a mis-matched pairing of two of the Coen Brother’s finer films, dramatic gangster period piece “Miller’s Crossing“, and trippy stoner comedy “The Big Lebowski“, in order to capitalize on the release of their new film that’s garnering stellar reviews, “A Serious Man“. Also opening this wekend is auteur Spike Jones‘ eagerly awaited adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are“, and comedian Chris Rock’s documentary about the black hair care industry, “Good Hair“.

In Comedy,

The new cast of Ghost Jail Theatre debuts this Sunday at Clinton's in their Season 3 opener. From left to right:Kayla Lorette, Tim Daugulis, Jess Grant, Oliver Georgiou, Andrea Del Campo, Stephanie Kaliner, and Robbie Beniuk.

Theatrical improv company Ghost Jail Theatre relaunches its third season this Sunday, with 5 new members; youthful (but comedically experienced) GJ “vets” Tim Daugulis and Kayla Lorette anchor the new line-up. I’m sure glad to see Ghost Jail’s clever brand of long-form improv returning, though it means Sundays are once again one of the most jammed nights for comedy in Toronto, what with Laugh Sabbath (this week featuring “The Loner Show“, next week, special guest performer Paul F. Tompkins) and Sunday Night Live continuing to pump out quality sketch work (Bi-monthly Sunday improv interview show “Monkey Toast” creator David Shore has also launched a “Panel Show” format on Mondays at Comedy Bar).

There’s a number of shows this week that also skirt the line between theatre and comedy, like the variety showcase Lunacy Cabaret on Saturday night, and alternative lecture series Trampoline Hall (in its first edition at The Garrison) and “Awkward Show and Tell” (returning to the Victory Cafe); stand-up comic Deborah Digiovanni, recently crowned as Canada’s Best Female Comic” by the Canadian Comedy Awards, has a two night stand uptown at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, with openers Laurie Elliott, and Lupe(character actor Melissa D’Agostino’s fiery archetype alter ego); and sketch duo Punch Drysdale (Norm Souza and Cole Osbourne) have a two set special next Friday at Comedy Bar, the first set of which will be done tee-totalling, the second with a serious drink-on (these guys suffer for their art, make no mistake).

In Theatre,

The boys of "BASH'd" (Chris Craddock & Nathan Cuckow) are back in town, at Theatre Passe Muraille. After his show next Friday, Craddock will guest with Impromptu Splendor, in a tribute to Brad Fraser (whose latest, "True Love Lies", is down the street at Factory Theatre).

It’s your last chance this Saturday to catch several independent theatre works; two of them, Falen Johnson’s”Salt Baby“, and Daniel Karasik’s “The Crossing Guard“, are wrapping up their premiere runs (Theatre Garguantua’s remount of their 2008 multi-disciplinary show, “Fibber“, also wraps up this weekend).

Another remount, “BASH’D“, the “gay hip-hop opera”, re-opened this past week at Theatre Passe Muraille; after spending quite a bit of time running off-Broadway and elsewhere, the phenomenally popular Fringe hit returns to Toronto freshly man-handled (fun fact: Toronto was just picked as the host of World Pride 2014!)

Also continuing right now are Soulpepper’s “The Guardsman“, and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?“, which has been extended (”Antigone” wraps this weekend, however); Brad Fraser’s swiftly-paced relationship comedy, “True Love Lies“, is still running at Factory Theatre, as is the recession clown piece “Spent“; and the nerdcore comedy “Godzilla on Sundays” continues at Bread and Circus.

Bread and Circus is also playing host next weekend to performances associated with the FOOL (Festival of Oral Literature) festival, curated in part by Red Letter writer Lisa Pijuan-Nomura; the fest also plays from Thursday onwards at several residential venues and the Artscape Wychwood Barn, and features local performance artists like Chris Gibbs, Evalyn Parry, and Ginette Mohr.

Other one-night or short run shows include Sunday’s Thistle Project theatre fundraiser with Impromptu Splendor, a free matinee “behind the scenes” with Peggy Baker Dance Projects (also Sunday at TPM), a reading of “Uncle Vanya” by ARC at Tarragon on Wednesday, and “Yoga Cannibal“, a “playful and cutting look at the consumption of culture in the quest for spiritual fulfillment”.

Finally, pay no attention whatsoever to the sloppily written and unimaginative review by Richard Ouzounian, whose knowledge of recent and innovative  Toronto theatre is woefully incomplete; Theatrefront’s “The Mill“, as a series, is a fascinating examination of horror genres and Canadian identity over its four parts. I saw Parts 2-4 in workshop last fall; Part 1, “We Are Brody“, and Part 2, “The Huron Bride“, run in rep until next Saturday at the Young Centre, and boast a talented cast, a superb and atmospheric set, and two celebrated Canadian playwrights, one of whom, Hannah Moscovitch, was just nominated for a Governor-General’s Award.

Man, this photo freaks me out; a preacher (Ryan Hollyman) is unaware of what's creeping down towards him (that'd be Holly Lewis) in Theatrefront's "The Mill, Part 1: Now We Are Brody".

Steve’s Weekly Picks for Oct. 16th - Oct. 23rd, 2009:

FRIDAY Oct. 16th:  Two Hours Traffic in-store performance, @ Soundscapes, 5pm, FREE        / Dan Mangan in-store performance, @ Criminal Records, 6pm, FREE      / Spiral Beach in-store performance, @ Sonic Boom, 7 pm, FREE      / “Salt Baby“, w/ James Cade, Paula Jean Prudat, Micheala Washburn, more, @ Theatre Passe Muraille, 8pm, PWYC /       Cuff the Duke, w/ Srata, Boys Who Say No, @ The Horseshoe Tavern, 9pm, $12.50       /        The Diableros EP release, w/ Planet Creature, DJs Shandy & Andy, more, @ The Boat, 10pm, $5      / “Crapshoot!“, w/ Laura Burns, David Ackerman, Chloe Whitehorn, hosts The Elephants, more, @ Theatre Passe Muraille,  10pm, $1-$6        / Shout Out Out Out Out, w/ TMDP, @ Wrongbar, 10pm, $18.50 /       Spandex Effect, w/ Maylee & Pegwee Power, Circle Research, more, @ Supermarket, 10:30pm, $5-$8

Paula Jean Prudat stars as a woman who questions her First Nation roots due to her fair skin in Falen Johnston's playwrighting debut, "Salt Baby"; it wraps up this Saturday at Theatre Passe Muraille.

SATURDAY Oct. 17th Aft.: “Four at the Winch” closing day, w/ Simone Orlando, Josh Beamer, Natasha Torres-Garner, Robert Kingsbury, @ The Winchester Theastre, 2pm, PWYC      /      “The Crossing Guard” closing day, w/Gary Reineke, Monica Dottor, & Daniel Karasik, @ Tarragon Theatre (Upstairs Studio), 2:30pm, $10-$15       /       ALL CAPS! Island Show, w/ Brain Borchedt, Great Bloomers, We Take Lovers, more, @ Gibraltar Arts Gallery (Ward’s Island), 3pm-10pm, PWYC

SATURDAY Oct. 17th Eve: Moving Image Film Festival: “The Devil’s Tail“, @ The Annex Live (296 Brunswick Ave.) , 1pm, $10       / “Fibber” closing show, w/ Madeleine Donahue, Michael Spence, Kat Sandler, more, @ The Theatre Centre, 8pm, $22 / “7 Minutes in Heaven Present… Harvest Fair!“, w/ Inessa Frantowski, Garett Jaimison, Shefi Archer, more, @ Comedy bar, 8pm, $10         / “Lunacy Cabaret“, @ The Centre of gravity, 8:30pm, $12-$15        /       “Darryl’s Hard Liquor and Porn Festival“, @ The Bloor Cinema, 9:30pm, $20 /     The Phonemes, w/ Lisa Bozikovic, Liz Forsberg, @ The Tranzac Club, 10 pm, PWYC      /  Shout Out Out Out Out, w/ TMDP, @ Wrongbar, 10pm, $18.50

SUNDAY Oct. 18h Aft.: “Spent“, w/ Ravi Jain, Adam Paolozza, @ The Factory Theatre, 2:30pm, PWYC         /     “Inside The Art”, w/ Peggy Baker Dance Projects, @ Theatre Passe Muraille, 4pm, FREE

SUNDAY Oct. 18th Eve: “Ghost Jail Theatre” Season 3 opener, w/ Tim Daugulis, Kayla Lorette, Scott Montgomery, more, @ Clinton’s, 7:30pm, $5-$6      /      “Impromptu Splendor” Thistle Project fundraiser, w/ Naomi Matt Baram, Naomi Snickus, Ron Pederson, host Christine Horne, more, @ Theatre Passe Muraille, 8pm, $25      /        Shonen Knife, w/ Modern Superstitions, @ The Horseshoe Tavern, 10pm, $15.50

MONDAY Oct. 19th: Coen Brothers x 2: “Miller’s Crossing” (7pm) & “The Big Lebowski” (9:20pm), @ The Bloor Cinema, $6       / “The Turn of the Screw”, w/ Christine Horne & Clinton Walker, @ Campbell House (160 Queen St. W.) , 8:30pm, $15         /       Sloan & Friends, @ The Dakota Tavern, 8 pm, $30 (obviously, you should line-up RIDICULOUSLY early)       /      “The Panel Show“, w/ Paul Constable, Km Parlee, Brian Froud, host David Shore, and more, @ Comedy Bar, 9pm, $5

Everything All the Time release their new self-titled EP "in concert" with No Shame this Friday at the Drake Hotel Underground (photo by Laurie Kang).

TUESDAY Oct. 20th: Dead Man’s Bones, w/ Mysterion The Mind Reader,  @ The Opera House, 7pm, $15 (ALL AGES)      /       “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, w/ Diana Donnelly, Diego Matamoros, Nancy Palk, more, @ The Young Centre, 7:30pm, $       / “Awkward Show and Tell: Ex Friends and Roomates“, w/ host Danny Shapiro, @ The Victory Cafe, 8:30pm, FREE

WEDNESDAY Oct. 21st: ARC Theatre Presents “Uncle Vanya” reading, w/ Aviva Aromour-Ostroff, David Ferry, Janet Porter, more, @ Tarragon Theatre (Upstairs), 7:30pm, PWYC / “The Mill, Part 2: The Huron Bride“, w/ Maev Beaty, Richard Greenblatt, Michelle Montieth, more, @ The Young Centre (Tank House Theatre), 8pm, $20-$35 (rush tickets $5 for students/ arts workers) /      Deborah Digiovanni, w/ Laurie Elliott, host Ron Fromstein, more, @ The Tor0nto Centre for the Arts (Studio Theatre), 8pm, $15      /       Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle CD release, @ The Dakota Tavern, 10pm, $15(?)

THURSDAY Oct. 22nd: “Fool in the House“, w/ Lillian Allen, Calogero (Charly) Chiarelli, & Ginette Mohr, @ Arlington St. (must reserve via info@girlcancreate.com for address), 7:30pm, PWYC     / “The Mill, Part 1: Now We Are Brody“, w/ Maev Beaty, Richard Greenblatt, Michelle Montieth, more, @ The Young Centre (Tank House Theatre), 8pm, $20-$35 (rush tickets $5 for students/ arts workers)     /     The Ravonettes, w/ The Black Angels @ Phoenix, $18.50     / Robots //// Us, w/ OPOPO, Kidstreet, Adolf Glitter, more, @ Wrongbar, 10pm, $7 or PWYC

FRIDAY Oct. 23rd: “Punch Drysdale Presents… The Jekyl & Hyde Show!“, w/ Pat Thornton, Sarah Hillier, Andy Hull, more, @ Comedy Bar, 7pm, $5 (ALSO 10:30pm set) /      No Shame Presents… Everything All The Time EP Release, w/Whale Tooth, Mike Duguay, @ The Drake Hotel Underground, 8 pm, $7 /       Hysteria Festival: “Gaggle“, w/ Caitlin Morris-Cornfield, Julia Sweetland, Sigrid Velis, more, @ Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 9pm, $15 (for festival evening)        /       John Tielli & Magali Meagher (Phonemes), @ The Holy Oak Cafe, 10pm, PWYC        /     “Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of  Splendour“, w/ Naomi Snieckus, Matt Baram, Ron Pederson, special guest Chris Craddock, @ Theatre Passe Muraille (Upstairs), 10:30pm, $10

Fine Print:

- All prices listed are advance ticket prices (where applicable). With many of these shows, especially music and theatre, if you show up at the door, you run the risk of being turned away due to a sell out.

- All times are start times, NOT door times. If you show up after the posted time, the show will likely already be underway.

- I typically cap the listed performers at three mentioned per show. The bill of bands / acts / performers is often much larger (particularly for comedy and theatre).

- Theatre and Comedy events are ALL AGES, unless otherwise noted. Music events are 19+, unless otherwise noted (FREE in-store and outdoor performances are ALL AGES, due to the lack of alcohol service).

theatrical improvisers Impromptu Splendor won a Canadian Comedy Award last weekend in Saint John, NB, for Best Improv Troupe (click HERE for a list of all the winners); the trio and their impressive roster of special guests resume local shows in October with several special one offs, including this Friday’s play not written by David French, with special guest Ted Dykstra, that will close The BUZZ Festival.

What with this being the Thanksgiving long weekend, there’s a few less comedy choices than usual, particularly on Sunday (both Laugh Sabbath and Sunday Night Live are taking a break), but there’s still plenty of swell shows. Saturday, there’s a stand-up show at the Yonge and Wellseley Fox and Fiddle location, featuring comics like Fraser Young, Kathleen Phillips, and Nathan MacIntosh; they’ll be competing against a just announced sketch show at Comedy Bar featuring Bull Hooey and The Bring Back Swayzes. On Sunday, Monkey Toast has a special holiday edition, with host David Shore interviewing restauranteur Zane Caplansky (I’ve fallen hard for his smoked meat knish), “The Drowsy Chaperone” creator Bob Martin, and “Hot Box” creator Pat Thornton.

Monday, the generous folks of PROJECTProject are hosting a Thanksgiving potluck, and will perform improv sets (at least until the triptophane kicks in); Tuesday, “Bitch Salad“’s Andrew Johnston hosts the first all black female stand-up show in Canada (really? The first?) at Buddies in Bad Times (there’s also a stellar line-up of gals on the “West End Girls” show on Thursday in Parkdale); and next Friday, Theatre Passe Muraille’s Elephants in the Room collective hosts a late night variety show, “Crapshoot!“, featuring 5 minute shows by almost a dozen performers at the upstairs TPM bar.

(The above video is the latest in Kathleen Phillip’s series of kitsch statue character monologues. The clever comedienne is on the Texas Comedy Massacre bill this Saturday. Theatre, Music, Film, and the weekly picks continue below…)

In Theatre,

I’ve been slowly catching up with theatre work around town; there’s over two dozen shows vying for my attention right now, and I’ve been rather overwhelmed. In the last two weeks, I’ve been lucky enough to see “True Love Lies” (Brad Fraser’s newest play brings back familiar characters for what could be his most comic work to date; the patter comes quickly, though I wished for a little more breathing room between the punchlines); “Antigone” (stellar performances as usual from the company in this Soulpepper production, with a beautiful set, though it was rather static and underutilized with the show as staged); “The Walworth Farce” (One of the best shows of the year, this touring production of Enda Walsh’s disturbing family portrait starts off howlingly funny, but the odd tone slowly mutates into something horrific); and “Mimi; Or, a Poisoner’s Comedy” (this darkly comic musical boasts gifted comedic actors who relish the witty repartee woven into the show by writers Melody Johnson, Rick Roberts, and Allen Cole).

Raymond Scannell as the dangerously unhinged thespian Blake in "The Walworth Farce", which ranks among my favourite plays of 2009 (photo by Robert Day).

It does seem that the theatrical offerings this month fall for the most part into two categories; horror, or musical. Theaterfront’s ambitious four play cycle about the dastardly deeds committed over 400 years in a sheltered spot by a Canadian river, “The Mill“, kicks off this week with Parts One (”Now We Are Brody“) and Two (”The Huron Bride“) running in repertory at the Young Centre (Soulpepper‘s own 3 repertory shows continue at least until next week); “The Walworth Farce” wraps its tragically short run this Saturday at Harbourfront Centre (it’s a truly terrifying piece of work); and site specific ghost tale “The Turn of the Screw” opens this week, as does Bent Out of Shape’s “The Drowning Girls” ( the story of three women murdered in the tub).

Those musicals I’m referring to are the aforementioned “Mimi” (though it’s also a little grisly), CanStage’s production of Tom Stoppard’s “Rock and Roll“, the return of phenomenally successful gay rap musical “Bash’d“, and dance series “Four at the Winch” (those last two both open as of Thursday).

The shows that don’t fit into either of those haphazard categories are the indie shows: Native Earth’s “Salt Baby“, a new play by Falen Johnson; Daniel Karisik’s new play “The Crossing Guard“; and a remount of Theatre Garguantua’s “fIBBER“. These three shows close as of next weekend; there’s a couple more (like brilliant clown recession satire “Spent“, and nerdcore buddy two-hander “Godzilla on Sundays“) that run for at least one more week.

In Film,

The hot film this week is the low-budget indie thriller “Paranormal Activity“, reputed to be the scariest shaky-cam faux documentary since “The Blair Witch Project”. I’m not keen myself on jump and fright films, so I’ll be giving it a pass, but if that’s your bag, they have special midnight screenings this weekend at midnight at the AMC (if they’re well attended, I don’t doubt it’ll be back in a wider release).

Of first release films still playing, I’d strongly recommend “The Informant!“, which has a terrific turn by Matt Damon as a pudgy and deluded whistle blower, and a strong supporting cast of comics in unusually deadpan roles.  There’s also Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut “Whip It“, with Ellen Page delivering a typically strong performance as a teen who becomes a roller derby star, and  “Zombieland“, starring Michael Cera and Woody Harrelson as mismatched zombie fighters.

The best bet at the repertory cinemas this week, IMO,  is the double bill of Sam Rockwell’s solo turn in the sci-fi psychological thriller “Moon“, and a film I’ve frequently lauded, Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq bomb disposal actioner “The Hurt Locker“, at the Revue Cinema this Tuesday to Thursday.

In Music,

Recent XM Verve "Artist of the Year" winner Dan Mangan is in T.O. next Friday to play an afternoon in-store at Criminal Records, and headlining gig that night at the Rivoli (photo by Jonathan Taggart).

multi-talented musical pixie Maylee plays with her power funk aerobics collective Sweatshop Hop this Friday for an ongoing Concorde Cafe residency, and next Friday with her “pop-rock” band the Pegwee Power at Supermarket; The Ladyfest fundraiser this Saturday at the Tranzac features solo turns from members of The Bicycles, Township Expansion, Ghost Bees, and more; and Wavelength has a typically eclectic bill for Thanksgiving Sunday, with bands from Halifax, Victoria, and Oakville trying out the acclaimed music series’ new home at The Garrison.

There’s a number of high profile acts playing mid-week at larger venues, like Amy Milan at The Mod Club and Psychedelic Furs at The Kool Haus on Wednesday, and Emm Gryner at Hugh’s Room and The Most Serene Repbulic at the Mod Club on Thursday. But the toughest calls for music fans are on Friday when they’ll have to choose between headlining sets from The Diableros (who are releasing a new EP), Dan Mangan, Two Hours Traffic, Cuff the Duke, and Shout Out Out Out Out, all on the same night!

The one factor that could lessen Friday’s indecision is that 3 of the bands playing shows that night (Spiral Beach, Dan Mangan, and Two Hours Traffic) are also playing in-stores (at Sonic Boom, Criminal Records, and Soundscapes, respectively) that afternoon and evening as well.

Steve’s Weekly Picks for Oct. 9th - Oct. 16th, 2009:

FRIDAY Oct. 9th: Said the Whale in-store performance, @ Criminal Records, 6pm, FREE       /      “Mimi; Or, A Poisoner’s Comedy“, w/ Trish Lindstrom, Ron Pederson, Paul Braunstein, more, @ The Tarragon Theatre, 8pm, $20-$38 ($10 rush tickets avail. @ 6:30pm @ venue)       /      “Buzz Festival” closing night, w/ Erin Fleck, Daniel Karasik, Marie Beath Badian, more, @  Theatre Passe Muraille, 8pm, PWYC          /      Maylee and the Sweatshop Hop, @ The Concorde Cafe, 10pm, $5 /      “Impromptu Splendor“, w/ Ron Pederson, Naomi Snieckus, special guest Ted Dykstra, @ Theatre Passe Muraille, 10:30pm, $10

SATURDAY Oct. 10th Aft.: “The Walworth Farce” (closing day), w/ Michael Glenn Murphy, Tadhg Murphy, Raymond Scannell, more, @ Harbourfront Centre (Fleck Dance Theatre), 2pm, $15-40 /       “Script Superheroes“, w/ Jim Taylor, Melissa D’Agostino, Daniel Krolik, hosts Alison Broverman & Kristen MacGregor, more, @ Harbourfront Centre (Studio Theatre), 3:30pm, FREE

Naomi Snieckus of Impromptu Splendor shows off the new hardware after winning "Best Improv Troupe" at the Canadian Comedy Awards.

SATURDAY Oct. 10th Eve: “True Love Lies”, w/ Ashley Wright, Susanna Fournier, David Keeley, more, @ Factory Theatre, 8pm, $15-$35 / “The Texas Comedy Massacre 2″, w/ Nathan MacIntosh, Kathleen Phillips, Fraser Young, host Xerxes Cortez, more, @ The Fox and The Fiddle Wellesley (27 Wellesley St. E., 3rd floor), 9pm, $5-$10        / The Matavaras, Parks & Rec, Hot Panda, more, @ The Horseshoe Tavern, 9pm, $6        /        Ladyfest presents “Arthur Russell in the Kitchen: A Tribute”, w/ Jonny Dovercourt, Lisa Bozikovic, members of  The Adorables, more, @ The Tranzac Club, 9:30 pm, $5 (proceeds go to making Ladyfest wheelchair accessible)        / “Paranormal Activity”, @ The AMC Yonge & Dundas, 11:59pm, $13.50

SUNDAY Oct. 11h Aft.: “Zombieland”, @ Rainbow Market Square, 1:10pm (also 3:10 & 5:10pm), $6      /        “Spent“, w/ Ravi Jain, Adam Paolozza, @ The Factory Theatre, 2:30pm, PWYC         /         Evalyn Parry, w/ Kate Reid, the cast of SPIN, more, @ The Tranzac, 5pm, PWYC

SUNDAY Oct. 11th Eve: “Blackbird” closing show, w/ Isabel Farias, Jock MacDonald, & Haylee Wanstall, @ 245 Carlaw Ave, Suite 004, 8pm, $12-$15       / “Monkey Toast Thanksgiving Special“, w/ Bob Martin, Zane Caplansky, Pat Thornton, host David Shore, more, @ The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 8pm, PWYC             /        Wavelength 484, w/The GCDC Gang, Share, Rozalind MacPhail,  host Doc Pickles, more, @ The Garrison, 9pm, PWYC

Jamillah Ross is one of the fabulous ladies featured in Andrew Johnston's October edition of "Bitch Salad" (photo by Sylvia Pereira).

MONDAY Oct. 12th: “Project Project 2.8: Turkey Jam!“, w/ Bob Banks, Julie Dumais, Alex Tindal, more, @ Unit 102 (46 Noble St.), 7pm, FREE (Potluck)        / “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later“, w/ Kimwun Perehinec, Mark McGrinder, Jessica Greenberg, more, @ Bread and Circus, 8pm, PWYC        /     “The Mill, Part 2: The Huron Bride“, w/ Maev Beaty, Richard Greenblatt, Michelle Montieth, more, @ The Young Centre (Tank House Theatre), 8pm, $20-$35

TUESDAY Oct. 13th: “Moon”, @ The Revue Cinema, 7pm, $7      /        “The Drowning Girls” final preview show, w/ Daniela Vlaskalic, Natascha Girgis, &Beth Graham, @ Tarragon Theatre, 8pm, $19       /      “Bitch Salad goes Black to School!“, w/ Cocoa Brown, Zabrina Chevannes, Jamillah Ross, host Andrew Johnston, more, @ Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 8:30pm, $12      /        “The Hurt Locker”, @ The Revue Cinema, 9pm, $7

WEDNESDAY Oct. 14th: “The Mill, Part 1: Now We Are Brody“, w/ Maev Beaty, Richard Greenblatt, Michelle Montieth, more, @ The Young Centre (Tank House Theatre), 8pm, $20-$35 /       Amy Millan, w/ Bahamas, @ The Mod Club, 8pm, $15 (ALL AGES) /      The Happy Mondays, The Psychedelic Furs, @Kool Haus, 9pm, $30 (ALL AGES)

THURSDAY Oct. 15th: “Fibber” opening night, w/ Madeleine Donahue, Michael Spence, Kat Sandler, more, @ The Theatre Centre, 8pm, $22        / Emm Gryner, @ Hugh’s Room, 8pm, $20      / “West End Girls (October Editon)“, w/ Sandra Battaglini, Rhiannon Archer, Laura Cilevtiz, host Marilla Wex, more, @ Poor John’s Cafe (1610 Queen St. W.), 8pm, PWYC      / “The Turn of the Screw” preview show, w/ Christine Horne & Clinton Walker, @ Campbell House (160 Queen St. W.) , 8:30pm, $15       / The Most Serene Republic, w/ Grand Archives, @ The Mod Club, 8:30pm, $15 (ALL AGES)

FRIDAY Oct. 16th:   Dan Mangan in-store performance, @ Criminal Records, 5pm, FREE        / Two Hours Traffic in-store performance, @ Soundscapes, 5pm, FREE        / Spiral Beach in-store performance, @ Sonic Boom, 7 pm, FREE      / “Salt Baby“, w/ James Cade, Paula Jean Prudat, Micheala Washburn, more, @ Theatre Passe Muraille, 8pm, PWYC /       Cuff the Duke, w/ Srata, Boys Who Say No, @ The Horseshoe Tavern, 9pm, $12.50          /         The Diableros EP release, w/ Planet Creature, DJs Shandy & Andy, more, @ The Boat, 10pm, $5        / “Crapshoot!“, w/ Laura Burns, David Ackerman, Chloe Whitehorn, hosts The Elephants, more, @ Theatre Passe Muraille,  10pm, $1-$6        / Shout Out Out Out Out, w/ TMDP, @ Wrongbar, 10pm, $18.50 /       Spandex Effect, w/ Maylee & Pegwee Power, Circle Research, more, @ Supermarket, 10:30pm, $5-$8

Maylee Todd returns to Supermarket as of Friday with her band Pegwee Power.

Fine Print:

- All prices listed are advance ticket prices (where applicable). With many of these shows, especially music and theatre, if you show up at the door, you run the risk of being turned away due to a sell out.

- All times are start times, NOT door times. If you show up after the posted time, the show will likely already be underway.

- I typically cap the listed performers at three mentioned per show. The bill of bands / acts / performers is often much larger (particularly for comedy and theatre).

- Theatre and Comedy events are ALL AGES, unless otherwise noted. Music events are 19+, unless otherwise noted (FREE in-store and outdoor performances are ALL AGES, due to the lack of alcohol service).

Ah, but one note of importance: an earlier edition of the update, since corrected, mistakenly linked “Mimi: Or, a Poisoner’s Comedy” writers Melody Johnson and Rick Roberts as wife and husband, when in fact, Johnson and “Mimi” composer Allen Cole are a pair.)

In Theatre,

The fall season is in full swing; all of the mid size theatres have new work debuting this week or next. Tarragon has a new musical (”Mimi: Or, a Poisoner’s Comedy”); Passe Muraille, a new play about Chilean exiles (”Refugee Hotel“) by Alameda Theatre (many of the artists in the stellar “Nohayquiensepa” at Summerworks this year are involved); and Factory sees the opening of a new play by Brad Fraser, “True Love Lies“, later in the week. CanStage has the Toronto premiere of Tom Stoppard’s “Rock and Roll“, and Soulpepper’s perpetual season continues with fine productions of “Antigone“, “The Guardsman“, and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” But if you’re only going to catch one show this weekend, you should make Volcano Theatre’s “Goodness” at the Theatre Centre your priority, as it’s closing as of this Sunday.

The cast of "Goodness" (L to R, Lili Francks, Tara Hughes, Jack Nicholsen, Amy Rutherford, and Layne Coleman) wrap up their critically acclaimed show at the Theatre Centre this weekend.

Other theatre around town includes an outdoor production of “Twelfth Night” taking place smack dab in the downtown core (College Park), an edition of Tapestry’s “Opera Shorts” this weekend, a Toronto opening for Classical Theatre Project’s touring production of “Oedipus Rex“, and a remount of Fringe hit “Nursery School Musical“, playing to next weekend at the Berkeley St. Theatre.

(For Comedy, Music, Film, and the weekly picks, keep going…)

In Comedy,

NYC's SidViscous plays the Toronto International Improv Festival's closing night, Saturday at Comedy Bar.

The Toronto International Improv Festival wraps up this weekend; the week long fest has had teams from NYC, Philidelphia, Chicago, and further (not to mention local talent) playing in 3 shows a night at Comedy Bar. The fest closes this Saturday night with an all star show and gala party as of midnight after the 8pm and 10pm showcases.

Second City’s new revue, “Shut Up and Show Us Your Tweets!“, finishes its previews this weekend and opens officially as of Tuesday; sketch comic, science lecturer, and solo improviser extraordinaire Peter Stevens returns to town after several months abroad, hosting this weekend’s edition of Sunday Night Live; improv duo Iron Cobra have a “secret” show on Wednesday at Comedy Bar, with specail musical guest Laura Barrett; and there’s several companies celebrating milestones this week. Underground improv troupe PROJECTProject is having their 2nd anniversary party at the more publicly accessible Bread and Circus this Monday, and sketch troupe The Boom has the 20th edition of their monthly show at Supermarket this Wednesday.

In Film,

Matt Damon and Tony Hale in Steven Soderburgh's "The Informant!"

TIFF may be over, but there’s still loads of smaller festivals riding its coat tails; there’s the Canadian Black Film Festival, the Toronto Palestine Film Festival, the Nollywood North America Festival, and the Spinning Wheel Festival (celebrating films by Sikhs). Hits of the TIFF are hitting theatres, too; I’d strongly recommend “The Informant!“, which has a terrific turn by Matt Damon as a pudgy and deluded whistle blower, and a strong supporting cast of comics in unusually deadpan roles. Opening next Friday, there’s Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut “Whip It“, with Ellen Page delivering a typically strong performance as a teen who becomes a roller derby star; Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story“, lauded by many critics as his best doc since “Roger and Me”; and, though they didn’t play TIFF, there’s two zombie flicks opening in wide release; “Zombieland“, starring Michael Cera and Woody Harrelson as mismatched zombie fighters, and “Dead Snow“, a Norwegian horror comedy about undead Nazis stalking a group of skiers.

At the reps, Kathryn Bigelow’s exceptional bomb disposal flick “The Hurt Locker” gets a short weekend run at the Royal Cinema, where the pristine projector and digitial sound will be of great benefit; and the Bloor has a double bill of both of Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” films on Monday night, which I’ve found to be highly re-watchable.

In Music,

There’s some innovative artists (PDF Format, Wordburglar) taking part in a burlesque variety show this Friday at Goodhandy’s (not to mention many lads and lasses in g-strings and pasties); if you’re a Beatles fan, you can watch artists like Sarah Slean and Steven Page cover that band’s catalogue with the Art of Time Ensemble on Saturday at the Harbourfront Centre, or you can save yourself $95 and pay $5 to see Bread and Circus’ house band The Mockers do the same (they’ll have a dance party going, too); and there’s a number of sold out high profile acts in town this week, including The Hold Steady, Sufjan Stevens, and Arctic Monkeys. You can try (pretty futilely) to get scalped tickets for these, or you can see the positive side of this; many slightly less popular acts (Dinosaur Jr., Gonzales, Michachu and the Shapes, Matt and Kim) are in town and NOT sold out due to the week’s glut.

Also, there’s plenty of terrific local acts playing this week, like Oh No Forest Fires and Fox Jaws (both of whom were great at the Summerworks Music Series) this Friday at Lee’s, Spookey Ruben and Boxes and Bags (among others) playing Elvis Monday at the Drake; and Bruce Peninsula and Sunparlour Players are at the ‘Shoe on Thursday.

Finally, this Sunday is the final Wavelength at Sneaky Dee’s; as of next week, the long running series will be relocating to the Garrison in the Dundas / Ossington area. The bill is eclectic, the beer will be cheap, and I don’t doubt that it’ll be packed with music fans who’ve appreciated the 7 year run the show’s had at Sneak’s.

Folk rock collective Bruce Peninsula plays a free set at the Word on the Street Festival this Sunday, and a double bill with Sunparlour Players on Thursday at the Horseshoe Tavern (photo by Yuula Benivolski).

Steve’s Weekly Picks for Sept. 25th - Oct. 2nd, 2009:

FRIDAY Sept. 25th: “Mimi: Or, A Poisoner’s Comedy“, w/ Paul Braunstein, Trish Lindstrom, Ron Pederson, more, @ The Tarragon Theatre, 8pm, $20-$38 ($10 rush tickets available as of 6pm)       / Toronto International Improv Festival: Full Contact (Virginia), The Belmont Transfer (Chicago), DHARMA (Toronto), @ Comedy Bar, 8pm, $10       / The Balconies, Oh No Forest Fires, Fox Jaws, more, @ Lee’s Palace, 9:30pm, $7 /     “Pasties and Pocket Protectors“, w/ Cherry Temple, Parker and Seville, The Atomic Cherries, musical guests PDF Format and WORDBURGLAR, more, @ Goodhandy’s, 10pm, $15 / The Weather Station, @ The Holy Oak, 10pm, FREE      / Toronto International Improv Festival: We’re From Here, Maybe, and Road Trip, @ Comedy Bar, 12 Midnight, $10

SATURDAY Sept. 26th Aft.: “The Informant”, @ Varsity Cinemas, 1pm (also 3:50pm), $12.50      / “Antigone”, w/ Liisa Repo-Martell, Jordan Pettle, Claire Calnan, more, @ The Young Centre, 2pm, $28-$68 (rush tickets $5-$20 1 hour b4 show)      / Michael Redhill’s “Goodness“, w/ Lili Francks, Gord Rand, Amy Rutherford, more, @ The Theatre Centre, 2:30pm, PWYC

Travellin' man Peter Stevens returns to Toronto's comedy scene this weekend, hosting Sunday Night Live (photo by Joseph Fuda).

SATURDAY Sept. 26th Eve: “Twelfth Night” closing show, w/ Lindsey Alston, Scott Clarkson, Casey Hudecki, more, @ College Park Courtyard, 7pm, PWYC /      Toronto International Improv Festival closing night: Unleashed (Rochester), Surf ‘n Turf (NYC), Traffic Jelly (Philly), @ Comedy Bar, 8pm, $10      /      The Mockers dance party, @ Bread and Circus, 9pm, $5 /      Toronto International Improv Festival closing night: BWP (Philly), SidViscous! (NYC), Gluttony (NYC), @ Comedy Bar, 10pm, $10      / Toronto International Improv Festival All Star show and closing party, 12 Midnight, $10

SUNDAY Sept. 27th Aft.: “Word on the Street” festival Music Stage: Ghost Bees (5pm), Bruce Pennisula (2pm), Sandro Perri (noon), more, @ Queen’s Park, FREE     /      “Refugee Hotel“, w/ Salvatore Antonio, Paloma Nunez, Bea Pizano, more, @ Theatre Passe Muraille, 2:30pm, $21 (limited PWYC day of show)      / “Opera Briefs” closing show, w/ Carla Huhtanen, Lauren Phillips, Keith Klassen, @ The Ernest Balmer Studio (Distillery District, Building 58), 4pm, $10-$25

SUNDAY Sept. 27th Eve: “Shut Up and Show Us Your Tweets!” final preview show, w/ Rob Baker, Caitlin Howden, Adam Cawley, more, @ Second City (51 Mercer St.), 7pm, $15-$23        /     “Etched in Sketch“, w/ Georgea Brooks Hancock, Issac Kessler, Liz McEachern, more, @ Comed yBar, 8pm, $5 ($8 includes Sunday Night Live)     / “The Hurt Locker”, @ The Royal Cinema, 9:15pm, $10 /       “Sunday Night Live“, w/ The Sketchersons, guest host Peter Stevens, musical guest Eve and the Ocean, @ Comedy Bar, 9:30pm, $10       /        Wavelength 482, w/ Sandman Viper Command, The Sales Department, Let There Be Light, more, @ Sneaky Dee’s (Last Wavelength there), 10pm, PWYC

MONDAY Sept. 28th: Quentin Tarintino x 2: “Kill Bill: Vol I” (7pm), & “Kill Bill: Vol. II” (9:15pm), @ The Bloor Cinema, $9       /      Tom Stoppard’s “Rock and Roll” preview, w/ Fiona Reid, Shaun Smyth, Kenneth Walsh, more, @ Canstage Bluma Appel Theatre, 8pm, $20-$95 (limited PWYC tickets available)       / “PROJECTProject Birthday Show!”, w/ Kevin Whalen, Julie Dumais, Bob Kerr, musical guest Maylee Todd, more, @ Bread and Circus, 9pm, $5       /      Elvis Mondays, w/ Whale Tooth, Spookey Ruben, Boxes & Bags, more, @ The Drake Hotel Underground, 9pm, FREE

Sketch collective The Boom plays their 20th residency show at the Supermarket this Thursday.

TUESDAY Sept. 29th: David Mamet’s “Speed the Plow” & “Bobby Gould in Hell“, w/ Luis Fernandez, Leigh Bowen, Scott Walker, more, @ Unit 1o2 (46 Noble Street), 7pm, PWYC       /     “Sketch Wars“, w/ 7 Minutes in Heaven, The Chesterfields, Viv and Craig, more, @ Comedy Bar, 8pm, $5       /        Micachu & The Shapes, w/ Hooded Fang, @ The El Mocambo, 10pm, $13

WEDNESDAY Sept. 30th: Brad Fraser’s “True Love Lies” final preview, w/ Ashley Wright, Susanna Fournier, David Keeley, more, @ Factory Theatre, 8pm, $15      / Gonzales, @ Mod Club, 8pm, $20 /       “The Iron Cobra Show“, w/ Becky Johnson, Graham Wagner, Mark Andrada, musical guest Laura Barrett, @ Comedy Bar,  9:30pm, $8      /     Dinosaur Jr., w/ Lou Barlow & The Missing Men, @ Phoenix, 9pm, $30

THURSDAY Oct. 1st: “Nursery School Musical“, w/ Paul Constable, Kylee Evans, Aaron Walpole, more, @ Canstage Berkeley Theatre, 8pm, $27.80     /      “The Boom Show: Chapter 20“, w/ Gilson Lubin, Frenzy, Don Ferguson, more, @ Supermarket, 9pm, $10      /      Bruce Peninsula, w/ SunParlour Players, RAH RAH,  @ The Horseshoe Tavern, 9pm, $10      /      Matt and Kim, w/ Ninja Sonik, @ Reverb, 10pm, $13.50

FRIDAY Oct. 2nd: “Oedipus Rex” opening night, w/ Ben Blais, Laura Burns, Paul Kit, more, @ The Lower Ossington Theatre, 8pm, $15-$20 (pre-show reception @ 7pm)      /      “East End Comedy Revue”, w/ Katie Crown, Jeff McEnery, Daryn Jones, host Jean Paul, more, @ The Dominion (500 Queen St. E.), 8pm, $10      /        “Whip It”, @ Rainbow Market Square, 9:15pm (approx.), $8.50       /      “Zombieland”, @ Scotiabank Plaza, 10pm (approx.), $12.50

Much blogged about striplings Micachu and The Shapes play this Tuesday with locals Hooded Fang at The El Mocambo.

Fine Print:

- All prices listed are advance ticket prices (where applicable). With many of these shows, especially music and theatre, if you show up at the door, you run the risk of being turned away due to a sell out.

- All times are start times, NOT door times. If you show up after the posted time, the show will likely already be underway.

- I typically cap the listed performers at three mentioned per show. The bill of bands / acts / performers is often much larger (particularly for comedy and theatre).

- Theatre and Comedy events are ALL AGES, unless otherwise noted. Music events are 19+, unless otherwise noted (FREE in-store and outdoor performances are ALL AGES, due to the lack of alcohol service).

In Theatre,

Summerworks is wrapping up this weekend, and there’s so many great plays (and performance pieces, and concerts) you should do your darndest to catch before it all wraps up. My must-see shows so far are “Melancholy Play”, ‘Montparnasse”, “The Middle Place”, “Impromptu Splendor”, and “Nohayquiensepa”; I’d also strongly recommend “Fear and Misery of the Third Reich”, “Red Machine: Part 2″, “Benu”, “Underneath”, “Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry”, and “The Epic of Gilgamesh (Up Until the Part When Enkidu Dies)”.

Dana Puddicombe's Summerwalks tour, "Love Letters to Queen Street West", takes its participants through the back alleys and hidden places of the busy neighborhood.

What I haven’t yet written about in the special posts are the more interactive aspects of the festival; namely, the Performance Gallery, and the Summerwalks. The Gallery is PWYC, and gives you a chance to take part in a number of social experiments, plus see some pretty fascinating theatrical pieces; the Walks are something else entirely. They’re opportunities to discover aspects of a fairly well known neighborhood (Queen St. West) from a new perspective, whether that be from the POV of a newcomer to the city (Dana Puddicombe’s “Love Letters to Queen St. W.”) , or through the family history of an immigrant who’s watched the neighborhood change for 30 years (Byron Abalos’ “Lola Lita”).

There IS theatre besides Summerworks running through the weekend, to next week, and beyond, like Canstage’s Dream in High Park production of “The Tempest“,  MacKenzieRo’s “Teach i Dtir: Voices from Ireland Park“, and newly opening shows like Soulpepper’s production of “Billy Bishop Goes to War“, starring Eric Petersen, and Red Tape Theatre’s tiny indie basement performance of Stephen Belber’s”Tape” (I’ll go into more detail of all these next Friday, most like - Summerworks still has me by the throat).

(For Comedy, Film, Music, and the weekly picks, keep going…)

In Comedy,

Summerworks has that too, including the theatrical gymnastics of The National Theatre of the World’s “Impromptu Splendor“, and Project Undertow’s sublimely silly “Melancholy Play“.

Missed "Impromptu Splendor" at Summerworks? Or, want to see them again? You're in luck; the trio (Naomi Snieckus, Ron Pederson, & Matt Baram) host "The Carnegie Hall Show" this Wednesday (and every Wednesday) at Bread and Circus (photo by Skye Regan).

Non-festival chortles? Well, Impromptu Splendor alum Kayla Lorette hosts this weekend’s Sunday Night Live (and also guests on Wednesday on the National Theatre of The World’s variety show “The Carnegie Hall Show” at Bread and Circus); there’s an edition of “Sketch Wars” at Comedy Bar on Tuesday (followed by the weekly screening of “Hotbox” ); Monkey Toast’s improvised talk show is Sunday at the Gladstone; and the popular all-female sketch troupe She Said What has a special on Friday at Comedy Bar, with guest host Debra DiGiovanni.

But the big news this week in comedy is the return of several influential Toronto comedy acts, after long years of absence. The comedy film series Pirate Video Cabaret, which ran 6 years in T.O. until its demise in 2004, is back as of this Thursday, re-launching at Comedy Bar; veteran sketch troupe The Chumps, whose alumni include Lisa Merchant and Jerry Schaefer, are playing at Bad Dog Theatre every Friday in August; and comedy hip-hop & beat box trio Calcu-Lator and the Oral Presentation, who have been silent for several years, have embarked on a monthly residency at the Drake Hotel (they play Friday, with guests like Bob Wiseman and The Remainders).

In Film,

Nazi zombies stalk a terrified party of skiers in "Dead Snow", screening at the After Dark Film Fest.

New and recent films include “G.I. Joe; The Rise of Cobra“, a silly but entertaining popcorn flick based on Hasbro’s 3 3/4 inch special forces figurines; “District 9“, a smart and original sci-fi tale about how humanity quarantines alien refugees in a slum outside Johannesberg, producer by Peter Jackson, and directed by Neill Blomkamp, who is still tapped for an upcoming adaptation of the video game “Halo”; and “Ponyo“, a collaboration between Disney and the legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki (”Princess Mononoke”, “Spirited Away”, “Howl’s Moving Castle”), in which a wild goldfish falls in love with a boy in a coastal town, and resolves to become human.

Other film attractions this week include a screening of George Lucas‘ “American Grafitti” at the Drake Hotel Sky Yard, hosted by Canadian filmmaker Bruce MacDonald, and the After Dark Film Festival, which runs at the Bloor Cinema until next Friday August 21st (more details on the festival can be found HERE ).

In Music,

The Summerworks Music Series wraps up this Saturday, with sets by Great Bloomers, who’ve been on the road for most of the summer, and Germans, a local band who haven’t played locally for almost a year and a half. It’s one of the most highly anticipated shows of the fest (for people in music circles, anyway).

Post-Music Series, it’s still a busy week; Pony Da Look and pals play Trash Cinema (one of Toronto’s most interesting underground venues) this Monday; on Wednesday, there’s tough choices to be made by music fans, including the country twang of Carolyn Marks and $100 at the ‘Shoe, a strong and eclectic line-up on the Tranzac Club’s Wombat Wednesday showcase (including I Am Robot and Proud), and Do Make Say Think, who play the launch party for The Bicycle Film Festival.

Thursday, there’s a show by The Owle Bird and The Weather Station at the acoustically pleasing Music Gallery; and on Friday, there’s a second edition of the Bowszer series at Bread and Circus, bringing 8-bit and video game inspired music acts together with gamers; you can challenge the musicians (including PDF Format and Tetris Hold ‘Em) to a round of Mario Kart between sets!

Gordon Lightfoot's new favourite band, Great Bloomers, close the Summerworks Music Series this Saturday night at the Theatre Centre (photo by Kathy Grant).

Steve’s Weekly Picks for Aug. 14th - Aug. 21st, 2009:

Dapper Dan: Ennis Esmer stars in the hit Summerworks comedy "Melancholy Play" closing this Saturday, then brings his beat box and hip hop comedy outfit Calcu-Lator and the Oral Presentation to the Drake Underground next Friday.

FRIDAY Aug. 14th: Summerworks: “Nohayquiensepa“, w/ Carlos  Gonzalez-Vio, Beatrice Pizano, Ravi Jain, more, @ The Factory Theatre Mainspace, 4:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass)      /       Summerworks: “The Ecstasy of Mother Teresa, or Agnes Bojaxhiu Superstar“, w/ Kaitlyn Regehr, Matthew Boden, nisha ahuja, more, @ The Theatre Centre, 6pm, $10 (less w/ pass)       /     Summerworks Performance Gallery, w/ Chris Stanton, Laurel McDonald, Clinton Walker, more, @ The Gladstone Hotel (2nd floor), 7-9pm, PWYC      /       Summerworks: “Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry“, w/ Daniel Barrow, @ Theatre Passe Muraille, 8:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass)      /       Summerworks Music Series: Sunparlour Players, w/ Josh Reichmann, @ The Theatre Centre, 10:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass)

SATURDAY Aug. 15th Aft.: Summerworks: “Toronto Noir“, w/ Murray Foster, Sarah Mennell, Jack Grinhaus, more, @ The Theatre Centre, Noon, $10 (less w/ pass)    /    Summerwalks: “Lola Lita”, w/ Byron Abalos, @ The Factory Theatre Courtyard, 1:15pm, $5    /     Summerworks: “The Nick Drake Project“, w/ Ryan Tilley, Melissa Lynn Dozois, Ryan Ward, more, @ The Factory Theatre Mainspace, 2:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass) / Summerwalks: “Love Letters to Queen West”, w/ Dana Puddicombe, @ The Factory Theatre Courtyard, 3pm, $5 /      Summerworks: “Impromptu Splendor“, w/ Ron Pederson, Naomi Snieckus, Matt Baram, @ Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 4:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass)

SATURDAY Aug. 15th Eve:  Summerworks: “Fear and Misery of the Third Reich“, w/ Marjorie Chan, Ben Sanders, Lisa Li, more, @ The Theatre Centre, 6pm, $10 (less w/ pass) /        Summerworks: “Red Machine: Part 2“, w/ Chris Stanton, Paula-Jean Prudat, David Yee, more, @ The Theatre Centre, 8pm, $10 (Less w/ Pass)      /       Summerworks: “Melancholy Play“, w/ Ingrid Rae Doucet, Ennis Esmer, Melissa Jane Shaw, more, @ The Factory Theatre Mainspace, 10:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass)      /     Summerworks: “The Middle Place“, w/ Akosua Amo-Adem, Antonio Cayonne, Jessica Greenberg, more, @ Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 10:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass)      / Summerworks Music Series: Great Bloomers, w/ Germans, @ The Theatre Centre, 10:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass)

SUNDAY Aug. 16th Aft.: Summerworks: ” XXX Live Nude Girls“, w/ Ginette Mohr, Christine Duncan, Kate Fenton, more, @ Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 12:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass)      /        Summerworks Summerwalks: “A Length of Chain”, w/ Bruce Beaton, @ The Factory Theatre Courtyard, 1:15pm, $5         /         Summerworks: “Montparnasse“, w/ Erin Shields, Maev Beaty, @ Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 2:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass)     /     Summerworks: “Benu” , w/ d. bi. young, @ Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 4:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass)

That poor sunflower knows it'll never outshine Kayla Lorette (Impromptu Splendor alumni, Ghost Jail Theatre); the cherub-cheeked improviser hosts Sunday Night Live at Comedy Bar this weekend, and guests on "The Carnegie Hall Show" on Wednesday at Bread and Circus.

SUNDAY Aug. 16th Eve: Summerworks: “Underneath“, w/  Christine Horne, John Gordon, Pip Dwyer, more, @ Factory Theatre Mainspace, 6:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass) / After Dark Film Festival: Dead Snow”, w/ “Deadwalkers”, @ The Bloor Cinema, 6:45pm, $10-$12 (Zombies half-price)      /      Summerworks: “The Epic of Gilgamesh (Up Until the Part Where Enkidu Dies)“, w/ Frank Cox O’Donnell, Ieva Lucs, Carlos Gonzales-Vio, more, @ Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 8:30pm, $10 (less w/ pass) / Sunday Night Live, w/ host Kayla Lorette, The Sketchersons, musical guest Maneli Jamal, @ Comedy Bar, 9:30pm, $8      /      After Dark Film Festival: “The Revenant”, w/ “Bad Roomate”, @ The Bloor Cinema, 9:30pm, $10-$12 (Zombies half price)

MONDAY Aug. 17th: “Teach i dTir: Voices From Ireland Park“, w/ Cathy Murphy, Eli Ham, Viv Moore, more, @ Ireland Park (Bathurst & Queens Quay), 7pm, PWYC      /         Pony Da Look , Buildings, Romo Roto, @ Trash Palace (89-B Niagara), 8pm, $5

Sky Shark (AKA Mack Lawrenz) is the musical guest for the return of Pirate Video Cabaret, this Thursday at Comedy Bar.

TUESDAY Aug. 18th: CanStage Dream in High Park: “The Tempest”, w/ Karen Robinson, Audrey Dwyer, Taylor Trowbridge, more, @ High Park (Bloor & Parkside), 8pm, PWYC /     “Sketch Wars“, w/ Parker and Seville, TITS, The Beautiful Losers, host Norm Sousa, more, @ Comedy Bar, 8pm, $5 (followed by screening of “Hot Box”, 10pm, FREE)      /     Drake Drive-In: “American Grafitti”, w/ host Bruce MacDonald, @ the Drake Hotel Sky Yard, 9pm, FREE      /      “District 9″, @ Rainbow Market Square Cinemas, 11:45pm (also 7pm & 9:30pm), $4

WEDNESDAY Aug. 19th: “Granny Boots“, w/ Casey Mejica (Ohbijou), Gentleman Reg, Katie Sketch (ex-The Organ), more, @ The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 7:30pm, FREE      /      Wombat Wednesdays, w/  I Am Robot and Proud, Radius & Helena, Gravity Wave, more, @ The Tranzac Club, 8:30pm, $5       /     “The Carnegie Hall Show“, w/ Kayla Lorette, Cleopatra Willaims, Malignant Humour, more, @ Bread and Circus, 9pm, PWYC      /       Bicycle Film Festival opening night party: Do Make Say Think, w/ The Wooden Sky, Evening Hymns, at the Polish Combatants Hall, 10pm, $22 (ALL AGES)

THURSDAY Aug. 20th: “Tape“, w/ Benjamin Blais, Joe Dinicol, Carrie-Lynn Neales, @ Lennox Contemporary Gallery (12 Ossington Ave.), 8pm, $15 /      The Owle Bird, w/ The Weather Station, @ The Music Gallery, 8pm, $5       /     “Pirate Video Cabaret“, w/ Mark Hickox, Sandra Battaglini, Mark Andrada, host Simon Fraser, musical guest SkyShark, more, @ Comedy Bar, 10pm, $10

FRIDAY Aug. 21st: “The Chumps“, w/ Lisa Merchant, Jerry Schaefer, Moira Dunphy, more, @ Bad Dog Theatre, 8pm, $10       /      Calcu-Lator & The Oral Presentation, w/ D-Sisive, Bob Wiseman, hosts The Remainders, more, @ The Drake Hotel Underground, 8pm, $15      /      She Said What?, w/ host Debra DiGiovanni, @ Comedy Bar, 10pm, $12      /      “Bowser Attacks!“, w/ PDF Format, Tetris Hold Em, Dead Beat Blast, more, @ Bread & Circus, 10pm,  $7 with Mario Bill printed out, $10 w/out

Fine Print:

- All prices listed are advance ticket prices (where applicable). With many of these shows, especially music and theatre, if you show up at the door, you run the risk of being turned away due to a sell out.

- All times are start times, NOT door times. If you show up after the posted time, the show will likely already be underway.

- I typically cap the listed performers at three mentioned per show. The bill of bands / acts / performers is often much larger (particularly for comedy and theatre).

- Theatre and Comedy events are ALL AGES, unless otherwise noted. Music events are 19+, unless otherwise noted (FREE in-store and outdoor performances are ALL AGES, due to the lack of alcohol service).

Bob Wiseman was on the bill for the inaugural Summerworks Music Series last year; this year, the multi-faceted performer is presenting a show in the theatre series, "Actionable".

The inuagural 2008 Summerworks Music Series had a stellar line-up, programmed by Baudelaire record label founder Evan Newman; between Newman and Rubenfeld, they were able to book some of the hottest Toronto acts, including The Rural Alberta Advantage (who’ve exploded in the past year thanks to raves for their SXSW shows this spring, and a glowing review on Pitchfork), Gentleman Reg (who’s also been getting a lot of attention for his recent release on the Arts and Crafts label, “Pitch Black”), and The Diableros.

I was honoured to write profiles of most of the music acts on the Summerworks blog last year, at Michael’s request. I haven’t had time to do the same this year, being focused on my own site, but there’s been some really great coverage by some of their staff members, including interviews with Rajiv Thavanathan of On No Forest Fires, DD/MM/YYYY, and Matthew Barber, who is one of the few returning acts from last year’s Music Series.

This year’s line-up is equally jaw-droppingly good, due in no small part to Michael’s inspired selection of Eric Warner to curate this year’s festival. Warner’s no stranger to programming first rate music festivals; he launched the Over the Top Festival before he was even of drinking age, and for the 2009 Music Series, he’s not only landed some of the city’s best independent local acts, but he’s also scored some of the hottest acts from Montreal, too, including Miracle Fortress (shortlisted for the 2008 Polaris Prize) and Think About Life (long-listed for the 2009 Polaris Prize).

There’s still plenty of incredible bands on the slate for this weekend’s shows, including Thursday’s double bill of The D’Urbervilles and Forest City Lovers, Friday’s of The Josh Reichmann Oracle Band and The Sunparlour Players ( SPP delivered an awe-inspiring performance at the festival launch and during the Music Series last year), and a fantastic triumphant return home for Great Bloomers (recently touted by Gordon Lightfoot as one of the best new music acts in Canada), and Germans, who’ve been touring North America and Europe in 2009, and will be playing their first local show in over a year.

You can listen to terrific tracks from all of the artists on the Summerworks site via their embedded player, but here’s a few more goodies, including a video from Think About Life, whose set last Friday just about brought the roof down on the Theatre Centre.

Miracle Fortress - Blasphemy

Josh Reichmann Oracle Band - Sea at Night

Great Bloomers - Young Ones Slept

This first of three special Summerworks posts starts off focusing on the original and largest element of the festival… Theatre.

Erin Shields and Maev Beaty follow up their last paired collaborative work ("Goblin Market") with "Montparnasse", a nuanced and sensual piece about nude models in 1920s Paris (photo by Amanda Lynne Ballard).

I’ve seen exactly 1/3 of the 42 plays in the “Local” and “National” categories as of this post, and there have been some real standouts. There’s also a number of shows that I’ve already seen in one form or another prior to this festival, that I can confidently recommend.

If you’re looking for drama, both of the shows Groundwater Productions is producing, “The Epic of Gilgamaesh (Up Until the Part When Enkidu Dies)” and “Montparnasse“, are sure bets to see fascinating and theatrically accomplished work. “Montparnasse” in particular has garnered excellent word of mouth based on their 1st act preview at the Rhubarb Festival earlier this year, and I’m happy to report that the full version of the show has been brilliantly realized. Writers/actors Erin Shields and Maev Beaty shed all,  playing nude models - one an aspiring artist, the other a hedonistic dilettante - and their artist patrons and bohemian acquaintances in 1920s Paris.

Carlos Gonzales-Vio is a strong contender for best male performer at this year's Summerworks, for his moving ensemble work in the multimedia show "Nohayquiensepa", and his standout performance as the beast man Enkidu in "The Epic of Gilgamesh" (photo by Amanda Lynne Ballard).

Also showing a fair bit of skin in their production is Ecce Homo, who had a huge hit on their hands last year with their production of “The Pastor Phelps Project“. This year’s offering is “The Ecstasy of Mother Teresa (or, Agnes Bojaxhiu, Superstar)“, the third and final in their trilogy of collective creations based on quotes concerning controversial figures of the 20th century. While almost every spoken word in the show is a quote, the assemblage of the show is original, and whereas the nudity in “Montparnasse” is integral to the plot, in “Mother Teresa”, it’s just one of many elements (music, dance. video) that enhance the spectacle of the production.

Other multi-media productions worth noting include Aluna Theatre’s “Nohayquiensepa“, and Daniel Barrow’s “Everytime I See Your Picture, I Cry“. “Nohay”, a less titillating, but far more technologically adept show than “Mother Teresa”, is a “workshop production” that uses a physically agile ensemble and an astounding array of projections, video, and audio recordings to give a vague and affecting eulogy to victims of violence, “inspired by events in a Columbian river town on the fringe of great violence”.

Barrow’s show builds on his previous work creating hand illustrated overhead projection shows - he describes his work as “manual animation” - with several key new developments; it becomes clear early on in the show that this is not autobiographical, but is a weird and surreal narrative, and Barrow for the first time is “invisible” to his audience. Previous shows have had him clearly visible manipulating his projector, but in this show, he’s hidden away on the balcony of Theatre Passe Muraille, and the audience focuses solely on his moving images. I had some issues with the narrative (the show could really use a program), but there’s no denying this is a wholly original theatrical experience.

Project Undertow's "Melancholy Play" has it all: a sparkling, witty script, a deft directorial debut from Rosa Laborde, a gorgeous set, and a uniformly enchanting (and also gorgeous) ensemble cast.

The final two shows I’m strongly recommending (that I’ve seen - I expect I’ll have some new shows to highlight come this weekend’s update) are both resolutely comedies, though their titles and topic material might suggest otherwise.

The National Theatre of the World, who I wrote about at length when they launched their series “Impromptu Splendor“, have finally brought their improv act to a theatre festival, and it’s truly gratifying to see theatre audiences realizing what this company does is brilliantly theatrical, though their techniques are rooted in comedy. The company members - Naomi Snieckus, Ron Pederson, and Matt Baram - research a playwright’s work to prepare for a show; on “opening night”, they ask the audience for a few random suggestions, then spontaneously create a one act play “inspired” by the featured playwright. I’ve seen them perform shows you’d swear were written by David Mamet or Judith Thompson, and it’s almost impossible to believe the three are creating as they go - but it’s 100% written before your eyes, and must be seen to be believed.

Last but certainly not least, my favourite show to date at the festival, “Melancholy Play“, is anything but. Ingrid Rae Doucet stars as a blonde depressive who finds that her maudlin demeanor causes people of both sexes and all walks of life to fall head over heels for her - until she overcomes her depression and realizes her new-found cheerfulness has the opposite effect. This absurd and delightful farce boasts a surfeit of comedic talent, and director Rosa Laborde, herself a Dora and Governor General Award nominated playwright, makes an assured directorial debut. While the script itself is by American playwright Sarah Ruhl, it’s an outstanding example of a independent Canadian company (Project Undertow) demonstrating great prowess in all aspects of theatrical production; the performances, live music, sets, and costumes are all note perfect.

Next up: a post about the stellar Summerworks Music Series (with lots of choice new MP3s and videos), followed by a final Summerworks post about the interactive treasures of the Summerwalks, and the Performance Gallery at the Gladstone Hotel.

In Comedy,

The Just for Laughs Festival continues to the end of the weekend. Many of the gala shows are sold out and/or ridiculously overpriced, but there ARE some great JFL-associated events happening at Second City, Absolute Comedy, and Comedy Bar, like a Sketch Show featuring Bull Hooey and Deadpan PowerPoint, and showcase shows by Nikki Payne and Marc Hickox (as his Teutonic alter ego Heino).

Other shows this week include the 50th edition of Laugh Sabbath’s most popular show, the all-solo-no-stand-up-comedy showcase “The Loner Show“, hosted by Brian Barlow; solid line-ups on regular shows like the “Alt.Dot.Comedy Lounge” and “The Carnegie Hall Show“; and several special one-offs, like a fundraiser for the Rape Crisis centre featuring all female comics (”Snatch and Snatchability“), and a Thursday night stand-up and sketch show featuring Punch Drysdale, Ladystache, and more.

Attention Birdie People! Calcu-Lator and the Oral Presentation play a one night only reunion show tonight (Friday) at the Drake Hotel Underground, with special guests Bob Wiseman and D-Sisive.

(For Theatre, Film, and Music, plus the week’s picks, just keep on going…)

In Theatre,

"Indie rock meets bare knuckle, death defying aerial dance"; "Head First" is one of the 7 Fringe shows held over at the Best of the Fringe series at Canstage Berkeley Theatre.

The Best of The Fringe festival has 7 of the best selling and critically successful shows from the Toronto Fringe Festival held over at the Canstage Berkeley Theatre, including some of my top picks like “My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish-Wiccan Wedding” (which has sold out) and “Singularity of Being“.

The Best of the Fringe isn’t the only way to catch recent Fringe hits, either; “36 Little Plays About Hopeless Girls” has had a few special remount shows this past week at Bread and Circus; the cast - both people and puppets - of “Rock Time 2009” is guesting on a comedy and music showcase on Tuesday at Rancho Relaxo; and there are plenty of Fringe performers who make a regular habit of  performing at live shows around town, like Chris Gibbs‘ weekly appearances on “The Carnegie Hall Show“.

In non-Fringe related shows, Canstage’s Dream in High Park production of “The Tempest” continues, as do all three of Soulpepper’s well reviewed shows at the Young Centre; “Awake and Sing“, “Loot“, and their newest offering, David French’s “Of the Fields, Lately“. The Soulpepper shows run until the end of the month; “The Tempest” continues until the end of August.

In Film,

a bomb disposal technician in Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" is the victim of her expertise in making smart flicks with big explosive action sequences.

The big recent releases over the last few weeks have been that boy wizard film, and Sasha Baron Cohen’s latest effort to antagonize the denizens of the USA. But there are lots of other quality films that have opened lately, including Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker“, a smart and action packed film about a bomb disposal team in Iraq; and the Sundance approved indie flick “500 Days of Summer”, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.

There’s also several flicks worth seeing this week in honour of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, such as the FREE showing of “Apollo 13” at Yonge and Dundas on Tuesday; Tuesday would also be a good day to check out Sam Rockwell in the sci-fi film “Moon“, as it’s half price day at the Cumberland Cinemas.

Finally, if you’re in the mood for a true cinematic classic, the Italian film “The Bicycle Thieves” is playing at Cinematheque Ontario.

In Music,

Calling all F**KFACES; the COP, AKA the beat-boxing, rapping, comedy and music sensation that is Calcu-Lator & the Oral Presentation, play a one night only reunion gig this Friday at the Drake Hotel. They’re not the only veteran local music/comedy act playing the Drake this week, either; next Friday, shameless vadueville duo The Wet Spots play a one night only gig as well.

In curated music nights, Keith Hamilton’s Pitter Patter Series celebrates its’ 400th edition this Friday; Ben McLean ’s “Showcho” series has a special carnival edition on Tuesday, featuring the cast of the Fringe puppet musical “Rock Time 2009“; and Dan Wolovick’s relatively fledgling music series Two Way Monologues has a speciall hip-hop edition next Friday, featuring Wordburglar, Peter Project, rap collective Toolshed, and more.

Other gigs this week include Zeus‘ ongoing Wednesday residency at the Dakota Tavern, and a rare gig in a mid-level venue (Lee’s Palace) by The Walkmen.

Recent Arts and Crafts signees Zeus continue their weekly Wednesday night residency at the Dakota Tavern; this week, they'll be joined by Pete Elkas (photo by Pete Nema).

Steve’s Weekly Picks for Jul. 17th - Jul. 24th, 2009:

FRIDAY July 17th: “36 Little Plays About Hopeless Girls“, w/ Nicole Stamp, Julia Lederer, Lauren Bride, many more, @ Bread and Circus, 6:30pm, $10     /     “Calcu-Lator & The Oral Presentation” (10pm), w/ Bob Wiseman (8:30pm), D-Sisive (9:15pm), DJ Fase (11pm), more, @ The Drake Hotel Underground, 8:30pm, $10     /     Pitter Patter #400, w/ Operon, OPOPO, Marienbad, host Keith Hamilton, more, @ The Boat, 10pm, $5

Julia Lederer and a baker's dozen of other local talents bring their hit Fringe show "36 Little Plays About Hopeless Girls" back to Bread and Circus this Friday evening for a final encore performance.

SATURDAY July 18th Aft.: “Awake and Sing“, w/ Jonathan Gould, Sarah Wilson, Matt Edison, more, @ The Young Centre, 1:30pm, $$28-$68 ($5-$20 rush tickets available 1 hour b4 the show)      /      “The Hurt Locker”, @ Varsity Cinemas, 3:20pm, $12.95      /      “The Bicycle Thieves” @ Cinematheque Ontario, 4:30pm, $8-$12.50

SATURDAY July 18th Eve:  CanStage Dream in High Park: “The Tempest”, w/ Karen Robinson, Audrey Dwyer, Taylor Trowbridge, more, @ High Park (Bloor & Parkside), 8pm, PWYC /       Just for Laughs: “Sing Mit Heino”, w/ Jerry Minor, Brandon Johnson, host Marc Hickox, more, @ Comedy Bar, 10pm, $20      /      Just For Laughs: “The Sketch Show”, w/ Deadpan PowerPoint, Bull Hooey, The Understudies, host Greg Proops, more, @ Second City, 11:30pm, $22 (2 for 1 tickets with password “Sketchy Business”)

SUNDAY July 19th Aft.: “500 Days of Summer”, @ Varsity Cinemas, 12:10pm (& 2:30pm), $12.95       /      “O Canada” Gordon Lightfoot Tribute, w/ Kurt Swinghammer, Miranda Mulhollad, Andy Maize, more, @ The Young Centre, 2pm, $5-$20

SUNDAY July 19th Eve: “Laugh Sabbath Presents… the Loner Show #50!“, w/ Alana Johnston, Nathan Fielder, Kathleen Phillips, host Brain Barlow, more, @ The Rivoli, 9pm, $5

MONDAY July 20th: “Of the Fields, Lately”, w/ Eric Peterson, Dianna D’Aquilla, Jeff Lillico, @ The Young Centre,  7:30pm, $28-$45 ($5-$20 rush tickets 1 hour b4 show)      /     “The Stage Show“, w/ Dylan Gott, Desiree Lavoy, Dave Merheje, host Sarah Donaldson, more, @ The Cameron House, 8pm, $5      /             “Alt.Dot.Comedy Lounge“, w/ Gilson Lubin, Marjorie Malpass, Nathan MacIntosh, host bryan Hatt, more, @ The Rivoli, 9pm, PWYC

Sammi Nemoi & Kristen McGregor (pictured), and the cast of the Fringe hit "Rock Time 2009" (both people and puppets) guest at "ShowchoFEST" this Tuesday at Rancho Relaxo.

TUESDAY July 21st: “Bruno”, @ Rainbow Cinemas Market Square, 7pm (& 9pm), $4      /      “Snatch and Snatchability” (fundraiser for Rape Crisis Centre), w/ Julia Hladkowicz, Rhiannon Archer, Michelle Shaunessey, host Deb Primeau, more, @ Supermarket, 9pm, $10     /      “Apollo 13″, @ Yonge & Dundas Square, 9pm, FREE      /      “ShowchoFEST“, w/ “Rock Time 2009“, Nika Smith, Jet Coaster, host Ben McLean, more, @ Rancho Relaxo, 9pm, PWYC      /      “Moon”, @ The Cumberland Cinemas, 9:15pm, $6.95

WEDNESDAY July 22nd: Best of the Fringe: “Morro & Jasp Do Puberty“, w/ Heather Marie Annis & Amy Lee, @ Canstage Berkeley Upstairs Theatre, 7pm, $15 ($25 for both shows)     /     Best of the Fringe: “Hip Check: The Musical“, w/ Susan Dunstan, Ryan Kelly, Melissa Kramer, more, Canstage Berkeley Upstairs Theatre, 9pm, $15 ($25 for both shows)      /      “The Carnegie Hall Show“, w/ Chris Gibbs, Alicia Douglas, Albert Howell, more, @ Bread and Circus, 9pm, PWYC       / Zeus, w/ Peter Elkas, more, @ The Dakota Tavern, 9:30pm, $7 (be prepared to wait up to an hour if you get there after 10pm)

THURSDAY July 23rd: Best of the Fringe: “A Singularity of Being“, w/ Clinton Wlaker, Soo Garay, John Blackwood, more, @ Canstage Berkeley Downstairs Theatre, 7pm, $15 ($25 for both shows)     /     Best of the Fringe: “Head First“, w/ Sabrina Pringle, Holly Treddenick, Andrea Ciacci, more, @ Canstage Berkeley Downstairs Theatre, 9pm, $15 ($25 for both shows)      /      “FUN & Friends“, w/ Ladystache, Zabrina Chevannes, Punch Drysdale, hosts Dylan Gott & Bryn Samuel Pottie, more, @ Comedy Bar, 10pm, $7

FRIDAY July 24th: Jenn Grant (9:30pm), w/ Hey Rosetta! (8pm), @ The Harbourfront Centre Sirius Stage, FREE     /      The Wet Spots, w/ guests, @ The Drake Hotel Underground, 8pm, $10        /     TWM #45: Wordburglar, Toolshed, Peter Project, many more, @ Rancho Relaxo, 9:30pm, $5 ($8 after 10:30pm)     /     The Walkmen (11:30pm), w/ Cass McCoombs (10:15pm), @ Lee’s Palace, $16.50

The Wet Spots, a very risque mucial cabaret act, return from New York for a one night only engagement at the Drake Hotel Underground next Friday.

Fine Print:

- All prices listed are advance ticket prices (where applicable). With many of these shows, especially music and theatre, if you show up at the door, you run the risk of being turned away due to a sell out.

- All times are start times, NOT door times. If you show up after the posted time, the show will likely already be underway.

- I typically cap the listed performers at three mentioned per show. The bill of bands / acts / performers is often much larger (particularly for comedy and theatre).

- Theatre and Comedy events are ALL AGES, unless otherwise noted. Music events are 19+, unless otherwise noted (FREE in-store and outdoor performances are ALL AGES, due to the lack of alcohol service).